Hard Lessons for Life
by cobalt-blue
Summary: I fixed the formatting. When a friend of theirs is kidnapped the former Rangers learn some hard lessons about putting people on pedestals.


HARD LESSONS FOR LIFE This was the first Power Rangers Fanfic I ever wrote. I fixed the formatting problems. (I hope) Disclaimers: The Power Rangers belong to Saban. I'm just borrowing  
  
them. Other characters are mine. This story is written as a sequel  
  
to Vigil and takes place about a year afterward. I tried to contact  
  
to the original author to no avail. I hope he/she doesn't mind my  
  
borrowing his/her interpretation of the characters. Summary: Takes place several years after the Rangers have retired. Power Rangers have to deal with the kidnapping of a friend,  
  
while Adam and Tanya deal with the issues of infidelity. Billy  
  
learns a hard lesson about putting people on pedestals.  
  
********  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 6:45 a.m. Corey stepped from the pool, and began to towel off. He'd enjoyed the early morning swim, and made a mental note to make time for them more often. "Right," he told himself, "Lately, if it hasn't been something to do with the project, you haven't had time to get in the water at all."  
  
His mother's voice broke his bout of self-recrimination, "I can remember you coming out here when you were a boy and were worried about something. You'd swim laps until you'd worked it out in your head."  
  
He looked up at her, and smiled, "you know me too well." He laughed and then looked up at the house. "You're up early."  
  
"I could say the same about you," she teased back.  
  
"I never sleep well when Stefan's away." Corey told her.  
  
She smiled and sat down, "Well, he'll back this afternoon, and you can sleep the whole night."  
  
Corey laughed, knowing that with Stefan coming back from a weeklong trip to Angel Grove, that he was very unlikely to get any sleep tonight. He was looking forward to it, "No, I won't."  
  
She chuckled and threw a pillow at him, "you be good." She sighed and  
  
leaned back in the lounger, "You want to tell me what's got you up  
  
swimming this early?" She indicated the glistening clear water, "In the pool no less. That tells me that you didn't want any distractions. Something's bothering you."  
  
"You do know me well," Corey sighed. "I think I may have gotten in the position of having too many irons in the fire." Lately, he'd been feeling overwhelmed trying to maintain too many commitments.  
  
"How so?" his mom asked.  
  
"I've got the Atlantis Project going, I've got a new album coming out-  
  
which by the way I think is the best I've done since my first" he wasn't sure he was ready to tell her why, "and I'm still doing free-  
  
lance work for the Navy. On top of that, my charity work with Covenant House is starting to take on a life of its own, and to be honest with you, I'd like to go back and finish my doctorate." He shook his head, "And I sure the hell don't get to see enough of Stefan anymore."  
  
"How are things with you two?" There was worried tone in her voice.  
  
"Okay I guess. That is when we get to see each other. He's been doing a lot of work out west, working on some special alloys for the Atlantis Project with Doctor Cranston."  
  
"Sounds to me like maybe you both have too much on your plates as it is." She reached out and took his webbed hand, "I'll let you in on a  
  
little secret. Love is like any other living thing. If it is to survive and grow, you have to take care of it." She leaned over and whispered to him in a conspiratorial tone, "There's a lot to be said for well-planned seduction. Especially when it's your mate you're seducing."  
  
"Mother!" Corey wasn't too comfortable discussing his love life with his mom. "Does George know you talk this way?"  
  
His mom only smiled, "How do you think we manage to stay in love?"  
  
"Mom, you two have been in love since I was fourteen. You just never  
  
decided to do anything about it until Chris, Stefan, Bonnie, and I  
  
pushed you two together," Corey told her.  
  
"Well, you and Chris weren't exactly the easiest couple of boys to raise. Toss Bonnie into the mix and you really were the terrible trio." She turned and gave him a very serious look, "You three were so close that we constantly worried that one or the other of you would get her pregnant."  
  
"Mom! I've never slept with Bonnie!" Corey told her.  
  
"But there was that incident when you three were seven, and decided to play I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."  
  
"Yeah, and she blacked both our eyes too, and then sent us home without our pants" Corey blushed and chuckled. "I've known those two would marry since we were in junior high school."  
  
"What about you?" His mom asked, "How long did it take to figure out that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with Stefan?"  
  
"Well that took a little longer," he told her. Holding up a lock of long blue hair, "First I had to deal with these changes." He told her. He'd never really talked to anyone about what he was feeling during the changes that turned him into a parahuman.  
  
"Was it really that difficult for you?" she asked.  
  
"It wasn't easy. At first it wasn't so bad, but when my hair changed color and the wings came in," he indicated the growths of flesh running from under his arms down the side of his body to terminate at the small of his back, "people kept calling me a blue headed flying squirrel."  
  
The wings may look a little odd to some people, but they were tapered just the right way that he could use them as diving planes in the water.  
  
"When did that stop?" his mom asked him.  
  
"After about the third time Chris busted somebody's head." Corey laughed. Nobody would call me that around him." Corey smiled, "But Chris wasn't always around."  
  
"Did Chris know about.?" His mom asked.  
  
Corey smiled, "He began to suspect after a while. We talked a couple of times about girls- he was always talking about Bonnie, and I guess he started figuring it out when I never seemed that interested in any of the girls he kept pointing at me."  
  
"Oh, who all did he point at you?" his mom asked.  
  
Corey named several young women he went to high school with, and they both chuckled. "Finally, he aimed Jason at me."  
  
Corey saw the look on his mother's face. "It's all right mom. Talking about him doesn't hurt anymore- at least not as much as it used to." He didn't tell her that he had had nightmares about Jason dying until just a few years ago, and it was only with Stefan's help that he'd finally been able the banish them. Somehow, it was appropriate that Stefan be the one to help him put to rest the ghosts of his first love.  
  
"I'm sorry Corey. You know that I would have protected you from that if I could have."  
  
"I know mom. It was a bad situation, made worse by my being a para." Corey told her.  
  
"It wasn't your fault," she began.  
  
"I know. But it took me a long time to realize that though." Corey sighed, "There's a lot of ugliness in the world. I had to see some of it up close just a little too early." Corey remembered something more pleasant on the subject, "I heard from his sister the other day. Her oldest son is starting high school this fall."  
  
"You did the right thing there, Corey," his mom told him.  
  
"I know. They didn't need to lose their home, they'd just lost their brother and their father. At the time, I thought it was because of me. It took a long time for that guilt to go away. But now I know differently."  
  
"So what are you going to do about your situation now?" his mom brought the conversation back around to the original subject.  
  
"I don't know," Corey replied. "It doesn't seem to matter what kind of breakthroughs I make, nobody really takes me seriously because I don't have that PhD after my name."  
  
"I wasn't talking about the degree, Corey,' His mom said. "That's a piece of cake. I'm talking about Stefan."  
  
"I'm not sure what I can do. There are just so many hours in the day." Corey told her.  
  
"Do you think it's fair then to take what little each of you get to see of each other from him then?"  
  
Corey shook his head, "Then what should I do?"  
  
His mom sat up, "Do you really need the money from the album?"  
  
Corey shook his head. "No, not really, we've got more than we'll ever use- even if we were to sink all of it into the Atlantis Project. To be honest most of our income comes from patents these days. I guess I still do the music thing out of habit. You know, it's been a year, time to put out a new album. Keep my face recognizable in Nashville."  
  
"Corey, your face is recognizable over most of the country. Somehow, I don't think you have to worry about that." Her voice became more serious, "Look, why don't you tell Jamison that you're not going to go on tour this time. Let the album stand on its own. Take that time and spend it with Stefan."  
  
"You might have a point there," Corey thought a moment. "It's been harder and harder for him to get the time off to join me on tour," Corey hesitated.  
  
As if sensing something important, "What is it Corey?"  
  
Corey blushed, but he really did need to talk about this with someone. "Last year when I went on tour, and Stefan was caught up in the project out in Angel Grove, we got into a major fight over it."  
  
Corey saw from her look that he had his mom's undivided attention, "What about?"  
  
Corey took a deep breath. He'd never talked to anyone about what had happened. He and Stefan had agreed that it would never happen again, and that they wouldn't talk about it anymore, but the situation was still hurting him. Finally, he decided that his mother would listen without judging, "I'm not sure I should be telling this. Stefan and I decided that it was water under the bridge."  
  
"But you're not so sure."  
  
Corey nodded. "Hell, I need to tell someone though. To be honest it's been on my mind a lot lately." He swung his legs around the side of the chair and continued, "Please don't tell anyone this, especially Stefan."  
  
"You're my son, if you don't want me to say anything I won't."  
  
"Well, Stefan was caught up in his research, and I'd been on tour for a almost six months- boy that put a kink in the project- we hadn't seen each other in over three months and had barely had time to even talk on the phone. I was coming into the town where he was working, Angel Grove- and yes according to Stefan and Bill all the stories are true- to do a benefit show for Covenant House. The night before, I get a call from Stefan. He was all upset and crying. He was also three sheets to the wind and coming about."  
  
"Stefan?" His mom shook her head, "that's not like him."  
  
"I know," Corey replied, "he was rambling on about my hating him, and how he had ruined our marriage and everything."  
  
"Oh no. I think I know where this is going," his mom replied.  
  
"I'm sure you do," Corey took a deep breath. There was still pain there, but he suppressed it. He loved Stefan, and one mistake, as long as it wasn't repeated wasn't about to cost him his life with him. "Anyway, it seems that he had gotten drunk at a party one night and ended up in bed with one of Dr. Cranston's friends. He said it was the one and only time, and that he was just lonely, and one thing led to another. You know the story. He was going on and on about understanding if I wanted a divorce."  
  
He could see his mother's eyebrow go up, "To be honest Corey, I don't know the story. If one or the other of you two were ever to stray, I always thought it would be you." She shook her head, "not that I expect you to be unfaithful, it's just with your pheromones and being on the road so much, I always thought it would be easier for you to."  
  
Corey was shocked and just a little hurt to think that his mother would think that of him. He understood it, but it still hurt just a little. He had fought most of his adult life not to let his pheromones get the better of him. He'd had plenty of opportunities, but had always found the strength to resist some handsome young man offering himself to him. He shook his head, "No mom, I've never been with anybody but Stefan. And to be honest about that, I made him wait until we were out of high school before that happened. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just my pheromones working on him."  
  
"Now that really does surprise me. I'd assumed you two had been sexually active since you were in tenth grade."  
  
Corey smiled, "That's what everybody thought. Just because Chris and Bonnie were going at each other like bunny rabbits, everybody thought that Stefan and I were too. In truth, we didn't go all the way" he made little quotations signs with his fingers "until the night of graduation. I think part of it was letting go of Jason."  
  
"You mean you let us all think that you." she smiled at him, "you are a very wicked young man. You know after your coming out," it was her turn to make the quotation marks gesture, "everybody in the country thought you two were dancing the naked-nasty. I took no end of grief over it."  
  
"I know. I'm sorry about that." He smiled, "Would anyone have believed that we weren't though? Anyway, back to what I was telling you. Stefan and I ended up talking about what happened for a long time. It almost did break us up, but I decided that I loved him too much to let one mistake end our marriage. He promised me it would never happen again, and I took him at his word. It took a long time for me to trust him again, and to be honest it's been a very hard road."  
  
"And that's what's on your mind?" his mom asked.  
  
"Sort of. If I hadn't been spending so much time on the road with the tour, I would have had it to spend with him. He wouldn't have gotten lonely, and."  
  
"Stop right there," his mom's voice became serious, "you are not the one who strayed. You're right, if you'd been there he might not have had the opportunity, but the choice was still his. Now I understand that you two have worked it out, but you are not to blame yourself for this. Do you hear me? Like you said it's over, and I'll take what I've heard today with me to my grave."  
  
"I think you're right though. I think I'll tell Jamison that I'm not going to do a tour this time. I think that I need to try and make sure my better half stays that way."  
  
"And school?" his mom asked.  
  
"School can wait too," Corey told her. "I guess what it comes down to, as long as I have Stefan's respect that's all I really need." Corey was surprised at how much talking to his mom had helped him deal with the quandary of what to do with his life.  
  
"Okay, it's like this: You don't need to tour. The album will sell itself, if it doesn't it's not that big of a deal. With the Atlantis Project you're far enough along to let Chris take up some of the slack, and if the Covenant House can't do without you for a couple of months, then you might want find a better run charity to support." His mother ticked the points off on her fingers, "So this afternoon, I will go to the airport and pick up Stefan. You are going to your house," she pointed to the low slung home down the beach that he and Stefan shared when they were both in town, "and clean it up so you can lay a well-planned seduction. I'll bring Stefan home, lock the door and won't let either of you out for a couple of days."  
  
"I think that might be a good idea." Corey told her.  
  
"I know it will," she smiled, "I love Stefan like a son, and I'm not about to see you two throw away your happiness because of your jobs." She shook her finger at him, "Remember: Mother knows best." Standing up she pulled him to his feet and kissed on the cheek. "Now go and get started. You've spent most of the past week here, so the place must be a mess."  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 3:45 pm  
  
Corey finished the last few details on the table. The wine- Stefan's favorite vintage- was chilling. The house was immaculate and Carly Simon was playing softly on the stereo, when the phone rang. "This is Corey," he said into the receiver.  
  
"Corey, this is your mom. Don't leave the house. Chris and George are on their way over. What ever you do, for once in your life do what I tell you." His mother's voice was ominous.  
  
"Mom, what's wrong? You're scaring me." Corey got a sinking feeling in his gut.  
  
"Just listen to me, Corey. There is nothing you can do right now, and if you try to do something anyway." he could hear his mom struggling to find the words, "just stay there until I can get there. Do you understand me?"  
  
"Yes ma'am," Corey's mind raced with fear.  
  
"Oh, and Corey?"  
  
"Yes ma'am?"  
  
"Don't turn on the radio or the television until George or Chris get there."  
  
"Yes ma'am," Corey answered automatically.  
  
"I love you Corey."  
  
"Love you too mom." Before he had put the receiver in the cradle there was a knock at the door, and then it opened to reveal Chris.  
  
"Did Mom call yet?" his brother was out of breath.  
  
Technically, they were only stepbrothers, but they'd been so close for years that a little thing like blood meant very little.  
  
Corey nodded and swallowed, "Chris, what's going on? You guys are scaring me." He could hear his own voice quaking.  
  
Before Chris could open his mouth, George came through the door. "Inside, both of you."  
  
"We are inside, Dad," Chris told him.  
  
He pushed Chris on through the door, closed it and locked it behind him. "Bonnie's taking the twins over to her dad's and will be here in a few minutes."  
  
"George, you're scaring me. What's going on?" Corey said.  
  
"Sit down Corey," George commanded.  
  
Corey shook his head, "No. What's going on?"  
  
"When you sit down I'll tell you what's going on, because there's nothing you can do about it at this point anyway." George told him.  
  
"Sit down, or I'll knock you down," Chris told him.  
  
He looked over at his brother, "Okay." Corey sat, and looked demandingly at his stepfather and brother. "Now what's going on?"  
  
"There's been a problem with Stefan's plane." George started. Corey suddenly remembered Ranger Airlines Flight 1706 about a year ago. One of his and Stefan's closest friends had barely survived that plane going down. "Son, Stefan's flight was hijacked this morning over Montana."  
  
Corey stood immediately, and headed toward the door. Before he took two steps, Chris was in front of him, shoving him back in the chair. "Mom's gone to the office to find out what she can. It didn't crash. They've landed it at safe airport somewhere in the mountains. Right now, they're trying to open lines of communication with the hijackers. If you go storming in there now, it's just going to get people hurt. Let mom do what she's good at doing. She'll get him back for you."  
  
George stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder, "Besides, when she got off the phone with me, she was muttering something about cubs and idiots getting in the way of mama bears."  
  
Corey just sat quietly in his chair, trying to let it sink in. He couldn't let it end this way. He had to make it up to Stefan. *  
  
  
  
MIAMI Seventeen Years Ago:  
  
It was a Saturday morning, when Corey looked up from his keyboard, and smiled at Bonnie and Chris, "What's up guys?" He hadn't seen much of either one of them for a couple of days. He'd been spending a lot of time on a new song. He could feel it struggling to get out, but the words just wouldn't come.  
  
"Hey Fishboy," Chris started, "got a favor to ask."  
  
Corey eyed him suspiciously, "yes?"  
  
"Can I borrow your truck? Bonnie and I want to take a friend to the mall. He needs to do some shopping."  
  
Corey nodded. "Sure. The keys are there beside my books."  
  
He turned back to the keyboard and tried again. He couldn't get the words to fit the rhythm of what he was trying to get across. The feel just wasn't right, and he was starting to get frustrated with it.  
  
"You okay Corey?" Bonnie asked coming up behind him. He felt her hand on his shoulder, "You've locked yourself up in here for over a week."  
  
Turning he smiled at her, "I'm fine. Just trying to get this to work."  
  
Over the past two years, he'd used his music to deal with the pain he felt over Jason's death. It had given him a focus for his anger and somewhere to channel his pain and loneliness. It had also gotten him a recording contract with a major label in Nashville. The album had already gone to number one, and showed no signs of coming down soon. Now he was working on his sophomore release, and his emotions had changed. Everything he tried kept sounding like what he'd already written.  
  
"Don't push it, take a break." She pointed out the window to the Gulf of Mexico just beyond it. "Go out there and play. Chase some sharks or something."  
  
Corey was grateful that she hadn't tried to coax him along with her and Chris. He hated getting in the way when they started acting all cutesy. He didn't resent his friends happiness- well maybe a little. He still questioned why life had taken away the life of someone like Jason, and fought hard to keep the hurt from making him too bitter. "I may do that. This isn't working. Maybe I'll take a quick swim down to Puerto Rico, and check out the trench there."  
  
"Fishboy, only you would consider a several thousand mile trip a quick swim," Chris told him. "Remember what Captain Carter told you. Keep it below the sound barrier. You were damaging the local reefs with the sonic booms."  
  
Corey smiled at the memory. Chris had been with him the day Dr. Carter- who was also the captain of the research submarine  
  
Cetacean- had wanted to test his top swimming speed. He'd had a bad  
  
day at school. Several of his old friends had made it clear that  
  
since the changes in his body had become undisguisable, that they  
  
didn't want to be around him anymore. It seems that the good  
  
Reverend Johnson had obtained a couple more converts to his cause.  
  
He was hurt and very angry, and the idea of just cutting loose in the  
  
water appealed to him greatly.  
  
It was becoming very clear that he was turning into a being designed for an amphibious life. His lungs had shrunk to a quarter of their size, and he was now breathing through his skin, even being able to absorb oxygen directly from water. His bones had transformed themselves into some kind of cartilage that was extremely strong and flexible. His musculature had increased in density, and several organs had grown into place in various places on his body. He was learning to "see" by making high-pitched pings from an organ in his chest and read their reflections. He could generate water at frightening volume and velocity.  
  
He'd also discovered that by directing that water backwards and down his legs, he could jet through the water faster than any boat out there. Dr. Carter wanted to find out just how fast he could go, that day.  
  
He'd surprised even himself when his sonar suddenly went blank and the water behind him suddenly erupted into an explosion.  
  
He was gliding along on sight alone; outdistancing the sound waves he was generating to guide him. Finally he braked and came to a stop somewhere far beyond the sight of the Cetacean. It took him several hours to find the boat again. Dr. Carter made it clear that, this was a power to use sparingly. That it could do serious harm to the local ecosystem- not to mention, scare the hell of the Navy.  
  
He decided to take Bonnie up on the suggestion and take a long swim. Maybe not down to Puerto Rico, but a few miles out to sea there were a couple of interesting shipwrecks. He could check those out. "You know, there are a couple of old wrecks out a couple of miles, I've been meaning to explore. Maybe I'll go there instead."  
  
"Good idea," Bonnie told him. "Just do me a favor. Be back by four. I've got something I want to show you."  
  
"Will do," he told her, assuming that there was some new gift Chris had bought her she wanted to show off. Bonnie was like that. She always wanted to people to see the good other people had done.  
  
The trip out to the wrecks had been pretty much a bust. The ships had already been picked clean by divers, and there was really nothing of any real interests to them. What he found when he got home was altogether a different story.  
  
Coming through the kitchen door, he called out, "Anybody here?" Pinging the house, he already knew the answer. Chris and Bonnie were in the living room with someone. He didn't recognize their sonar signature, but they were about Bonnie's build. Their heart rate was way up too.  
  
Tying the towel around his waist, he padded trough the dining room to find the three of them watching a rerun of SeaQuest. "Hey Fishboy, your favorite program is on," Chris yelled out.  
  
"Right," he nodded at the other person, and turned back toward Chris, "where's Mom?..." Then it hit him. Turning back the stranger, he took a second look- a long look- a very long look. His mouth must have come open, because he felt Chris come over and politely close it for him. The guy was gorgeous. Tall, and lean, he had pale blue eyes, and close cut blond hair. He was dressed in a pirate's shirt and black jeans.  
  
"Corey, you remember Stefan, don't you?" Bonnie said. "You know. The guy who has been blowing all the curves in physics."  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 5:00 pm.  
  
The door opened, and Bonnie walked in. Chris met his wife at the door, "How is he?" she asked.  
  
"I think he might be still in shock. He hasn't freaked out yet," Chris told her.  
  
"Has he said anything to you?" She asked.  
  
"Not yet. He just keeps sitting and staring at Fox News, hoping there will some kind of information." Chris shook his head, "I'm not sure, he's even hearing what's on the tube."  
  
"Well, I talked to your mom on the way over. She said they've been able to pinpoint the landing strip. Beyond that, there wasn't a whole lot they could do yet. Something about these guys having too clear of a view." She pulled him into the hall, "Don't tell Corey this, but it looks like they've started killing some of the passengers."  
  
"Who?" Chris asked, afraid to hear the answer," have they identified them yet?"  
  
Bonnie shook her head, "No. All they can tell is that the body they dumped is wearing a naval uniform."  
  
"God, it's just like his Dad all over again."  
  
"Your mom said to keep him here. To sit on him if you had to." Bonnie said. "Something about her letting us know what was going on once she got there."  
  
"Right. Sit on him. You and I both know that if he gets it into his head, to go after them, it'll take the US Marine Corps to stop him."  
  
"Well, you'd better call them. Because she says that if he leaves, it could be big trouble. She says the hijackers are watching for para intervention." Bonnie shook her head, "I don't now how she knows, but she knows. If they're watching for paras, then they know who've they've got on that plane."  
  
"Bon, hon, we're talking about the same woman who gave us her credit cards and her blessing for a makeover for Stefan."  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
ANGEL GROVE Tuesday 3:O5 pm local time  
  
"Detective Scott here," Jason picked up the phone on his desk. He was just going off shift and was supposed to meet Bill, Adam and Tanya for dinner at Casa deAngelos.  
  
"Hello gorgeous," a definitely female voice that was definitely not Bill came over the receiver.  
  
"Uh, hello?"  
  
"You've forgotten me already. I should be upset," the voice came back.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's been a long day, and I really don't feel like games. Can I help you?"  
  
"It's Leighanne, Corey's mother. You know, person who sent your better half the birthday card last week." The voice told him.  
  
"Oh hi, Mrs. Carstairs. What can I do for you?"  
  
"I need your help," the woman told him.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"Stefan's plane has been hijacked," the voice told him. He finally put a face with the name. Bill's research partner, Stefan on something called Project Atlantis was bonded to this woman's son.  
  
"What?!" Jason asked sitting down.  
  
"You remember Stefan, right?" Mrs. Carstairs asked. "Look, is this a secure line?"  
  
"No. It's my office line."  
  
"Okay, let me rephrase that. Anybody liable to be listening in?" The voice asked.  
  
"No." he answered the rather strange question.  
  
"Look, I need your and Bill's help. I'm landing at the Angel Grove airport in twenty-minutes. Can you and Bill pick me up?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"All right. See you then." She told him.  
  
Jason hung up the phone and dialed Bill's cell.  
  
"This is Bill."  
  
"Do you remember a Leighanne Carstairs? She said something about sending a birthday card last week." Jase told him.  
  
"Yeah. She's Stefan's mother-in-law. Nice lady. Remember, you and she talked most of the night when Stefan and I got our grant."  
  
"The petit little blonde?"  
  
"Yeah. What about her?"  
  
"She's arriving at the Angel Grove airport in twenty-minutes and wants us to pick her up. Something about Stefan's plane being hijacked, and wanting us to help?"  
  
"Oh my God. Is he okay? Does anyone know where the plane is?" Bill asked.  
  
"First I've heard of it. Don't you guys have the news on?"  
  
"No. Been listening to cds all day, and haven't turned on the television."  
  
"What is it?" Jason heard Adam's voice over the phone.  
  
"Just a minute Jase." Jason could here Bill's muffled voice as he filled in Adam and Tanya about what was happening. There was a long silence. Finally, Bill's voice came back over. "Go ahead.  
  
We'll meet you there."  
  
"That would probably be better," Jase told him. "I don't think we'll all fit in my car."  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 5:15 pm local time  
  
Authorities now are telling us that they've ascertained the location of the hijacked jet liner. Fox News has heard reports that some of the passengers have been shot. At this time, we have no more information, but will keep you updated as it comes in.  
  
George watched his stepson sit blankly in front of the screen. He could imagine how the man must feel. The impotent rage that had to be boiling upside him with no place to be directed. He'd seen that rage unleashed over nineteen years ago, when Corey had lost his first love.  
  
*  
  
MIAMI Nineteen years ago.  
  
George set his briefcase down at the door and picked up the note left by Leighanne. Bottomless Pit at my place. We'll have to sacrifice the fatted calf to feed them both. Dinner's at seven if you're hungry. He smiled at the inside joke. Two growing boys were about to eat him and her both out of house and home.  
  
At least half their worries were over about how the boys were going to split Bonnie between them now that all three had hit puberty. Corey telling his mom that he was gay had been a shock to him. Somehow, he got the feeling though that she might have known all along. When he asked her about it, all she did was smile.  
  
"Dad, you've got come now! Corey's missing! He's gone berserk!" Chris came through door, grabbing him.  
  
`What? Slow down, son! What are you talking about?" He asked Chris as he was pulled along toward the Leight's house.  
  
"Something bad has happened to Jason. He's dead, they've arrested his father. Corey found out and bolted for the ocean. Dr. Carter's going to be pissed! He broke the sound the sound barrier again."  
  
"Well, Dr. Carter's going to have to get over herself now isn't she." George told him.  
  
They entered Leighanne's house to find her vacillating between fuming and intense worry. At the time, she was cursing to peel the paint from the walls. "What's this all about Leighanne?"  
  
"George, my baby's missing and I want him back," was all she said as she put her arms around Chris and pulled him tightly to her.  
  
"Where'd he go?" George asked. "What happened? I can't get a straight answer out of Chris."  
  
"Out, out there!" she stabbed at the ocean. "You remember Jason?"  
  
George nodded, "the boy you said Corey had a crush on."  
  
"Right," Leighanne told him. "Evidently they went out. Jason's father found out about it. He beat him to death over it."  
  
"Beat who to death?" George asked. "Leighanne you're not making sense."  
  
"Jason, George. The bastard took a baseball bat and beat his own son to death, because he caught him kissing Corey."  
  
"What? How do you know this?" George asked, not being able to imagine Corey sitting and watching something like that happen without intervening.  
  
"He was arrested an hour ago. It's all over the news.  
  
Jason's sister called the police."  
  
"And Corey knows about this?"  
  
"Yes." Leighanne told him. "He took off to sea. I don't know where he went, and I'm not too sure how he's going to react. George, he had the same look in his eyes that Mike used to get when a bust went bad."  
  
Before George could answer, the phone rang. "I'll get it." Chris told them, passing Leighanne off to George.  
  
"Look Leighanne, Corey's got a good head on his shoulders. He's not going to do anything rash. He's probably just gone out for swim to clear his head."  
  
"I don't think so. I've got a bad feeling about this," Leighanne told him.  
  
"You don't think, he's gone to the jail do you?"  
  
"No. Corey's not the type to take the law in is own hands. He's not the kind of kid to go looking for revenge."  
  
"That was the hospital," Chris told them.  
  
"And." George asked.  
  
"And, they've got Corey there."  
  
"Why is Corey at the hospital?" George could hear Leighanne's voice begin to break.  
  
"He broke into the morgue. Ripped the steel door right off its hinges. They can't get him away from Jason's body." George could see tears in his son's eyes.  
  
"Let's go," Leighanne told him fumbling for her keys.  
  
George reached out, took the keys from her, "No. You stay here. I'll go get him." He tried to make himself sound firm, "You're in no condition to talk to him. You'll just upset him more. I'll bring him back here." He looked over at Chris, "You stay here, and keep an eye on her."  
  
"But Dad." Chris started to argue. "I can talk to him. I can get him to listen."  
  
"You heard me. Stay here." George was not taking any arguments.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
The ten-minute ride to hospital was the longest ten minutes since he'd buried his wife four years ago. That night at the hospital was the first time he'd ever told a boldfaced lie to law enforcement. He told the policeman guarding the door that he was Corey's father.  
  
The scene where the officer was standing was horrific. A steel door- six inches thick and twisted like so much used tin foil lay off to the side. Beyond it, half the lockers were ripped from their hinges. A single body lay, pulled out of its locker, covered in a sheet. Several police officers were standing with their guns drawn surrounding Corey's weeping form holding the dead boy's head in his arms. "Corey?" George called softly.  
  
An inconsolable wail erupted from the boy, and all the glass in the room shattered. George moved carefully forward, talking softly to him. "Corey, son, you've got to let him go." He gently pulled the weeping boy from the body into his arms.  
  
For long minutes, he sat there on the floor as the boy cried as he hadn't since the day he saw his father killed. After what had to have been hours, he was finally able to coax Corey out of the morgue.  
  
Several of the police officers wanted to arrest him, until they found out who his mother was. Being a profiler for the FBI did have its compensations.  
  
Finally, they let George take him home, the hospital having decided that as long as Corey's mother was willing to pay for the damages that they wouldn't press charges. George just told them, that that would be just fine. He even knew the name of a good contractor.  
  
Chris had refused to go home that night. He'd insisted in staying up and watching Corey all night. George had ended up falling asleep on the couch with a worried Leighanne in his arms. It was the first time he'd ever spent the night at the Leight home- it wasn't to be the last. He wished he had her in his arms right now. That way he'd know that most of his family was safe.  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
ANGEL GROVE CALIFORNIA Tuesday 4:00 PM  
  
Jase watched the terminal entrance for the small blond woman he remembered meeting at the party. He wasn't accustomed to strange women calling him at work and requesting his help. However, over the years Bill and Stefan had worked together, Stefan and to a lesser extent his life-partner Corey, had become friends with the two ex-Rangers. If he was indeed in danger, then helping the woman in whatever manner possible was the least he could do.  
  
"I see you beat us here, Jase," Bill said from behind. He turned to see the forms of his lover, and the former Black and Yellow rangers.  
  
"Siren's come in handy," Jase told him.  
  
"It's good to see you boys again. I just wish it was under better circumstances." The voice from the phone said from off to the side. Jason was sure that he'd scanned that area just a moment ago.  
  
Jason watched Bill turn and smile at the blonde. She certainly didn't look old enough to be Corey's mother. As cliché as it sounded, she could have been any of their sisters. "Hello, Mrs. Carstairs. Can you tell us what's happened to Stefan?"  
  
"At 9:45 am this morning- Pacific Coast time- Ranger Flight 715 was high jacked by unknown forces. The plane disappeared from radar somewhere over Colorado at 10:20. The NTSB located its transponder signal, what most people call the black box, in the Cheyenne Mountains of Montana at 12:06 Mountain time."  
  
"NORAD?" Bill asked.  
  
"Pretty darn close. So close that there are already elements in the military that are calling for a pre-emptive strike." Mrs. Carstairs told them.  
  
"What about the hostages?" Adam asked.  
  
"Three dead so far. All of them jettisoned from the plane?"  
  
Jase heard Tanya's intake of air.  
  
"Any idea on who they were?" Bill asked. Jase could hear the nervousness in his voice.  
  
"A housewife from Massachusetts, a Senator from Kansas, and a naval officer. I don't think they really know who all they have on the plane yet."  
  
"Excuse me, for asking," Jason interjected, "But how are your getting this kind of detailed information?"  
  
Mrs. Carstairs smiled, "I know which computer systems to look into." She looked around, "Is there someplace a little quieter where we can talk. I need your help, and I don't want to ask what I'm going to ask out in front of God and everybody." Jason had a bad feeling about that last comment. This woman seemed just a little too competent to make him entirely sanguine about the situation.  
  
"Sure, our cars are right outside," Bill shot his lover a look that made it clear he too was getting a bad feeling about this.  
  
  
  
*  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 6:30 pm local time  
  
Fox News has now confirmed the identities of three of the murdered passengers about Ranger Flight 715, but is withholding the  
  
information pending the notification of the family. An NTSB spokesman had this to say, "We've identified the location of the high jacked aircraft, and have begun negotiations with the perpetrators.  
  
At this time, we ask all family members to remain calm, and please do not try to call the airports or the NTSB, as it clogs the phone lines. We want to assure the family and friends of the passengers of Ranger Flight 715 that we are doing every thing in our power to get their loved ones returned to them safely and quickly. Thank you.  
  
Corey heard the doorbell ring and looked up. Bonnie talked to someone quietly at the door and then returned to the living room where he sat not paying attention to the babble on the screen. "Corey?" she asked quietly.  
  
It took a few seconds even to recognize his name, "Yeah?"  
  
"Here," she handed him a cup of coffee and a plate. "You need to eat something."  
  
Looking down at the food, he smiled. He sipped the coffee, and smiled, not really tasting it. "It's funny. I usually don't drink the stuff when Stefan's not here. I never really developed a taste for it, and since the caffeine really has little to no effect on me, I don't bother with it."  
  
"I know," she said, "But really need to get something on your stomach."  
  
"He'll be okay," she told him. "You can't give up hope."  
  
Corey nodded, "I know. It's just that.," he couldn't bring himself to voice that was eating at his gut. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something was telling him that he'd never see Stefan alive again.  
  
"Don't think that!" she told him. "You two have come too far together to give up on him!" Corey could hear he anger in her voice. "He's going to be fine, and you two are going to take that trip to Russia to see his grandparents you've always talked about."  
  
"Oh my," Corey suddenly thought of something. "Has anyone called the Vovaraskys?"  
  
Bonnie nodded. "I called them an hour ago. They're still New York, and can't get a flight out. All commercial traffic is grounded now. They're trying to get tickets on Amtrak, but the ticket counters are flooded with requests."  
  
"They must be worried sick," Corey said.  
  
In her best Russian accented voice, Bonnie shrugged and repeated one of Stefan's favorite expressions, "You know Mama, she worries." Corey smiled, remembering their first date.  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Seventeen years ago.  
  
Mr. Vovarasky was a tall thin man with a thick head of blond hair, just starting to turn gray. Corey felt strangely conspicuous, as Stefan's father looked him up and down as if to take his measure. "So you are the young man who Stefan has been going on about so much lately." He walked around Corey, "What does your father do?"  
  
"My dad's not with us anymore. He was a DEA agent, but was killed in the line of duty." Corey swallowed hard.  
  
"Hmm, and your mother?" The man asked as he rounded completed his circuit of Corey.  
  
"She works for the FBI." Corey told him wondering what this was all about. Stefan had warned him that although he was out to his parents, and they were understanding, that they had many attitudes from the Old Country about marriage and family. He'd told him not to take anything they said too personally.  
  
"And what are your intentions toward my son?" the man asked. "He's going to be a great scientists someday like his father, you know." The man finally smiled.  
  
"For now, my intentions are to go see the new Indiana Jones movie and then stuff ourselves silly with pizza," Corey tried to sound casual without being disrespectful.  
  
"And after that?" the man gave him a warning look, "No going down to the beach and watching the submarine races. hmmm?"  
  
Corey felt himself blush. Where did the man get these ideas? "No sir. No submarine races. I've had enough of submarines lately." That much was very true. He'd just gotten back from Groton Connecticut, where he'd towed the Los Angeles after she'd gone down off the east coast.  
  
The Navy had been reluctant to call on a civilian when they lost one of their boomers. As a matter of the fact, they'd denied him permission to help at first. However, faced with the prospect of a hundred fifty men being left on the bottom to die, or let a kid see the outside of that sub, they finally acquiesced.  
  
Subconsciously he rubbed his shoulder where he'd strained something lifting the damnable thing off the bottom. Her ballast tanks had flooded and there was no way to keep her afloat, or even at neutral buoyancy for the whole four hundred mile trip. He had been forced to push her entire mass through the water, while keeping it from hitting the bottom. Afterward, Captain Carter wouldn't let anyone near him. He didn't blame her either; he'd generated so many pheromones when expending that much energy that he reeked. At one point it got so bad, the water filled with so many pheromones that he was afraid it might attract sharks. After all, the water that far north was cold enough to make Great Whites a problem, and with an armload of submarine, defending himself might prove to be difficult.  
  
"I heard about that. It was all over the news." He smiled, "My son is seeing a real hero."  
  
Corey blushed, "I'm not a hero. I just did what had to be done."  
  
Mr. Vovarasky smiled, "That is the definition of hero boy." He nodded, "you will do."  
  
The date- their first- really went smoothly as first dates go. They'd laughed and marveled over Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, then gone for pizza at Paplenos. "I hope Papa didn't scare you too much," Stefan told him. "His understanding of courting in America comes from old Happy Days reruns."  
  
"So that was what he meant about submarine races," Corey laughed and said,"You know we're lucky," Corey had started to think about Jason, "We've got parents who love us despite our being gay."  
  
Stefan had smiled, "Mama had problems at first. She was worried that she would not have grandchildren. You know how Russian mothers are about grandchildren," Stefan winked at him.  
  
"Actually, I don't. Up until I met you, I didn't know any Russian mothers," Corey told him.  
  
"Well, trust me. They all want grandchildren. If it wasn't for my sister, then I would be doomed." Stefan told him. "She's only twelve and already boy-crazy," he leaned in close, "and angry at me for going out with one of her favorites. So Mama isn't too worried that she won't have any grandchildren yet." He leaned back and gave Corey a long look as he munched on the Hawaiian Special. "You know Corey, there is a whole generation of twelve year old girls out there who are convinced that they, and only they can cure you."  
  
Corey gave was confused, "Cure me of what?"  
  
Stefan smiled, "of being gay. What else?"  
  
Corey shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not sick, so there's nothing to cure me of."  
  
"I know," Stefan told him, "but you see you're such a tragic figure to them." Corey was glad he didn't push the issue any further. He smiled, "have you read any of the things they write about you in those teen magazines?"  
  
Corey shook his head. "No I can't say that I have." Corey usually tried to avoid most of the publicity that so many young artists seemed to crave. For him, his music was therapy, not a long-term career goal. He had plans of studying marine biology at FSU. "I don't take that stuff too seriously."  
  
Stefan smiled and joked, "Good. It would give you a big head."  
  
Later that evening, Corey stood outside the Vovarasky's home saying good- bye to Stefan. It was an awkward moment, with neither boy sure of what to say or do. Finally, Corey broke the silence, "Is it okay." he felt himself blushing, "if I.uh. kiss-you-good-night?"  
  
Stefan only nodded, and leaned into him. It was a short kiss, with all the fumbling and inexperience of two sixteen year old boys. It also had sent Corey's heart racing and blood directly to his groin. He felt himself responding from almost the first touch, as a tingling went up and down the center of his back. Stefan reached up and wrapped his arms under Corey's, and the feeling of contact with his wings almost pushed him over the edge right there.  
  
A low groan erupted from his throat, and he could feel Stefan's own reaction against his leg. It was huge! Before he could shift positions to get a better feel, the porch light came on, and he could hear the definite sound of someone clearing their throat on the other side of the door. Breaking away, from Stefan's grip, he whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Stefan only nodded and turned to go inside, as Corey wandered back to his truck. He wasn't ready to go home yet, so drove out to the beach. Stripping naked- he hadn't yet found a pair of trunks that would stay on in a high- speed turn- another reason, Captain Carter had for keeping everybody away from him after towing the Los Angeles into port- he dove headlong into the surf and headed out to sea.  
  
The emotions Stefan had evoked in him were strong, and confusing him. How could he feel this way about the other boy? He felt somehow that he was betraying Jason. It was all confusing, and exciting at the same time. By the time he got back to the house, he'd been to Cuba and back and the sun was coming up in the East.  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
ANGEL GROVE CALIFORNIA Tuesday 4:20 pm local time:  
  
Jason pulled into the house he and Bill shared, and watched in the rearview mirror as Tanya and Adam joined them with Mrs. Carstairs. He had the distinct feeling that after hearing what this woman had to say that their lives would never be the same again.  
  
"You okay, Jase?" Bill asked.  
  
"Don't know. Something's eating at me about this." He turned and looked at Bill, "Don't you think it's a little odd, that a year ago you disappeared because of an airline disaster," he fought to find the words, "and now, your research partner is on a hijacked airliner?"  
  
Bill reached up to touch the glasses that weren't there.  
  
Jason knew he was worried if he was falling back onto old habits. "Affirmative."  
  
"Now I know you're worried love," Jason told him, "you're starting to sound like you used to when we had the Power." Getting out of the car, he waited at its front for Bill to join them.  
  
"I'll try to keep that under control," was all Bill said, but Jason could see the worry in his eyes.  
  
Ten minutes later, all five of them were seated around Bill's and Jason's dining room table sipping coffee. Mrs. Carstairs was explaining, "Look, I know you have your own lives now. But my son-in-law is in danger," she looked over at Bill, "and I think it might have something to do with the research you are doing on the Atlantis Project."  
  
"I can't see how Mrs. Carstairs," Bill told her, "The Atlantis Project is not that critical. I mean, yes, we're trying to develop the technology to build an underwater city, but it's not like we're doing weapons research or anything."  
  
"Not actively, but a number of things you are developing could be re- focused into weapons research quite easily." She gave him a strange look, "besides, the power systems you are developing alone could make several middle eastern countries poor overnight."  
  
Jason remembered Bill telling him, that their partner, Corey was adamant about not using nuclear energy to power the city. It seems he had adverse reaction to radiation.  
  
Mrs. Carstairs sighed, "Look, I also know you are using some of the technology you studied on Aquitar to move things along." The woman dropped a bombshell.  
  
Jason watched Bill closely, unsure how he was going to react. "I don't understand, Mrs. Carstairs," he began.  
  
The woman shook her head, "Look, Stefan is in danger and I really don't have time to play secret identity games with you folks.  
  
I know who are, or were at least, it doesn't matter how I know, I just do. I need your help in rescuing Stefan."  
  
Adam leaned over, "Mrs. Carstairs, if what you think is true then, you would also know that we wouldn't have access to that anymore."  
  
"Who told you that rubbish?" the woman asked. She turned to Bill, "look you're a scientist, a damned good one from what my son tells me. What happens to a rechargeable battery when the charge is gone?"  
  
"It's dead," Bill told her. "No more energy."  
  
"And what happens if the energy is reapplied to battery?"  
  
"Usually it will hold a charge again?" Bill.  
  
"Now what happens if the battery is not dead, but somebody has flipped a switch to make it read as dead?" She gave them all a knowing look, "Look, you should know that power once given, can't be taken away. The focus for it can, but the power itself can't."  
  
"So what are you suggesting?" Jason was afraid to ask. He'd spent the last fifteen years getting used to not having the Power.  
  
Now this woman was saying that it never really left him.  
  
"Exactly," she answered his unspoken question. Smiling wickedly, "look, don't tell my family this, they don't know, but Corey is not the only person among us with the parahuman gene. I'm a telepath, among other things." She looked Jason up and down, "I've known who you were, from the day I met you. You are just too competent and carry yourself too much like someone with the responsibility of great power."  
  
"Mrs. Carstairs," Bill began, "how do propose that we," he seemed to struggle for a word, "activate the Power?"  
  
"We get rid of the blocks that have been imposed to keep you from calling on it." She tapped his forehead, "it's all in here.  
  
All of you chose to believe that the Power was gone when this Zordon character told you it was over." She shook her head, "Look, I don't mean any disrespect, but you've been a little naïve on that  
  
particular front."  
  
"I can't believe that Zordon would do that to us?" Tanya said.  
  
"Believe what you want my dear, but the facts remain.  
  
Contrary to popular opinion, teenagers are much easier to manipulate  
  
than adults are. Why do you think, the Power kept being transferred  
  
from one group of teenagers to another, each always slightly younger  
  
than the last group when they came into theirs?"  
  
"We were always told to let us move on with our lives."  
  
"That could be true, but I'm not sure it's all of it. Look, I've become something of an expert on people with powers over the past twenty or so years. If there's one thing I understand is that it's easier to manipulate a teenager's natural enthusiasm and optimism than an adult's cynicism- when parahuman abilities are involved, then even more so. Some kids just have a need to help."  
  
"That may be true, but how can we become what we were without the morphers?" Jason asked.  
  
"What effect would that have on the current team?" Tanya asked.  
  
Mrs. Carstairs shook her head, "none. I'm not talking about the devices you used, the giant robots and the weapons. I'm talking about the inner strength that enhanced your agility, and fighting skills." She shook her head, "the weapons and robots weren't the Power. The outfits weren't the Power either. They were a dependency. Your inner strength is the Power."  
  
Jason wasn't sure he believed what he'd heard. How could Zordon have lied to them? How could they have been wrong all this time? "I'm not sure, Mrs. Carstairs. How can you know so much about things you didn't experience?"  
  
The woman shrugged, "that's a fair question. I don't know for sure. However, are you willing to take the chance that I'm right, that you can summon up what you were? Or had you rather play it safe, and believe yourself to be less of what I know you are?" She leaned over, "and let a good man die for it." She gave Bill a look, "a man who is your friend."  
  
"That's not fair, Mrs. Carstairs," Adam told her. Jason wasn't sure why Adam was so interested in this. As far as he knew, Adam had only met Stefan a couple of times.  
  
"Life's not fair," the woman told him. "If it were, a fourteen year old boy wouldn't have died at the hands of his own father just because he had dared to love someone of his own sex. If life were fair, then drug dealers wouldn't kill innocent people while pedaling their poison." Jason could hear the passion rising in the woman's voice, "If life were fair, then my son-in-law, a man I love like a son, wouldn't be sitting on a plane held by terrorist in Montana."  
  
Jason was forced to stop and think. Was he really willing to take a chance on Stefan, a friend, being killed, just because the alternative might make him question what he'd believed all these years? Was he that petty? He looked over and saw a similar turmoil in the others. Finally, Bill broke the silence, "When I was in that raft waiting to be rescued, I had people that loved me, who had to sit helplessly and wait for news." He sighed, "Now it looks like you're doing the same. If I can alleviate that pain in any way then I'll do what I have to." Jason had never been more proud of Bill than at that point in his life.  
  
"What do we need to do?" he asked.  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 7:00 pm local time.  
  
Bonnie watched as Corey got up and paced the hall between the living room and the bedroom he and Stefan shared. She could feel the frustration rising in him, and thought to herself that he was so like  
  
Stefan. She'd seen this before, but that time it was Stefan who'd paced the floor, and felt helpless.  
  
*  
  
MIAMI Sixteen years ago:  
  
Bonnie watched the news coverage with Chris and Stefan, hoping that the worry she felt wasn't showing on her face. On the screen was a wrecked cruise liner listing in the water. There was blood and smoke everywhere, and she could hear the sound of the helicopter's rotors beating in the background. This is James Norton on the scene of the giant shark attack on the cruise ship Caribbean Princess. Two days ago, a giant species of shark long believed to be extinct, attacked and crippled the US Navy submarine Sea Tiger off the coast of Miami. Since then it has cut a swath of death and destruction all along the Gulf Coast. The creature's size has been measured at over seventy-five feet long. Dr. Samantha Carter of the naval research vessel Cetacean has identified the creature as "Charcaradon, the man struggled with the word, Megalodon", a species of shark believed to have hunted these waters two million years ago.  
  
On the scene now is the youthful para, Corey Leight- or as the press has dubbed him, Coral, attempting to engage the shark and move it away from the wreckage of the cruise liner. This reporter though can't help but wonder what a lone boy can do against a monster of this size.  
  
The scene shifted to show for the second time, a series of explosions in the water were streaking behind a wake just before it slammed into the surfacing beast. Bonnie watched as Stefan winced at her side. She understood how he felt. She knew as well as he that hitting that thing at supersonic speeds had to have hurt Corey almost as much as it did the shark.  
  
She watched as a huge cloud of blood began to spread from the side of the now sinking beast, and its tail thrashed in the water, sending frothy pink foam so high that it momentarily obscured the lens of the  
  
camera. This time however, there wasn't an accompanying wake streaking off. She saw Corey's form slowly float to the surface, face down. Then, in agonizing slow motion, she watched as the shark in its final death throws lashed out at the floating form. Jaws big enough to crush a bus suddenly closed in. She saw Corey seem to realize what was happening, and launch himself away, but he was just a fraction too slow.  
  
That terrible maw came down on him, just above his knees, and disappeared below the surface, leaving what was left of her friend  
  
floating there in a spreading pool of is own blood. Beside her, Stefan screamed, "Nyet!"  
  
Stefan bolted for the door, but Chris was faster. He tackled the young Russian and brought him to the floor. "Hold on, Stefan. There's nothing you can do." She heard the panic rise in Chris' own voice.  
  
"Let me go, Tovarish!" Stefan screamed. "Let me go! I have to get..," then he began speaking in Russian. From the tone, she suspected that Stefan was using several words to which his mother would not approve.  
  
Chris finally got him under control, "Okay, but wait just a minute. How are you going to get there? Where are you going? They're deep in the Gulf."  
  
"You have a boat! Take me there!" The Russian demanded.  
  
"Where are they?" Chris asked helplessly. Bonnie noticed that he didn't try to explain that by the time the little sailboat Chris and his dad liked to take out on the weekends, reached the cruise ship, they would be long gone.  
  
"I don't know! Take me to him!" Stefan pleaded and collapsed into Chris' arms.  
  
Chris looked over at her helplessly. She could see the horror in his eyes at what had just happened to their friend. Passing Stefan off to her, "I'm going to call Dad on his cell. Maybe he knows where they're taking Corey."  
  
Seven hours later, they were at the Pensacola Naval hospital, the closest one to where the cruise ship was attacked, and were waiting. Leighanne, now Mrs. Carstairs looked like hell. Mr. Carstairs wasn't  
  
much better. Chris was sitting with his arms wrapped tightly around  
  
Bonnie- she knew as much for his own comfort as hers- while Stefan  
  
paced the floor. Corey had come out of surgery two hours before and  
  
all they could do was wait.  
  
The doctor told them that somehow Corey had taken a huge dose of radiation and that it was suppressing his parahuman healing factor. He said, "His body has to fight off the radiation first. Once that's gone, then it can start trying to replace his lost blood."  
  
"Can't you give him a transfusion or something?" Chris had asked.  
  
The doctor gave Chris a long look and sighed, "We don't know what blood type. That's the problem with dealing with parahumans. We just don't know enough about their physiology to treat him. If he were human, I might be able to do something."  
  
"If he were human, he wouldn't be in there, Doctor. If he were human a great many other people would be dead," Stefan's voice was cold as steel.  
  
"He is human, Doctor." Leighanne told him.  
  
"I didn't mean any disrespect Mrs. Carstairs. I'm just saying that I don't know enough about parahuman medicine to help him." The doctor turned, "Now if you'll excuse me, I do have other patients that need my attention."  
  
That had not been Bonnie's first run-in with the prejudice that she knew Corey faced everyday. She didn't like it before, and she didn't like it now. It left a bad taste in her mouth. Before she could comment, another voice joined them, "I'm sorry I'm late. I had nobody to leave the ship to. The Cetacean got hit pretty badly," Captain Carter told them.  
  
"Who'd you finally leave in command?" Chris asked half-heartedly.  
  
"Ship's cook. Admiralty doesn't like it, then they can have my commission. I've got a patient that needs me." She pushed past them and headed toward ICU.  
  
For several days, they had no idea if Corey was going to live or die. He had not regained consciousness since he'd been brought in.  
  
He was not allowed to have visitors that weren't immediate family members, and it didn't look like he was getting any better. Bonnie couldn't tell who was going to crack first, Chris or Stefan. Finally, Dr. Carter feeling that it couldn't hurt him any more than he already was, had let her and Stefan in to see him. She got the impression it was more to give them an opportunity to say good-bye than anything else. She remembered that Stefan had opted to let her go first.  
  
She would take the image of Corey in that bed with her to her grave. There was a sheet pulled up to his chin, and there were tubes running from his body to various life support machinery. A lavender blanket was tucked into the sides of the bed and stopped short where his knees were supposed to be. What struck her the hardest was his hair. It had taken her almost a year to get used to him having what was best described as sea blue hair when it first started to change.  
  
Now it was streaked with an unhealthy whiteness that seemed to scream "death" to her.  
  
She stood there quietly for a few minutes and listened to the machinery filling his lungs, knowing that they really were too small to do the job needed. She'd been informed that his kidneys were on the verge of failing, and that if that happened, then it probably wouldn't be long before it was over. "Don't leave us, Corey," she remembered saying. "I don't think the rest of them could take it. They need you. I need you." He made no response.  
  
Finally, she'd left the room, feeling no better. She passed Stefan on the way out and noticed that he was still wearing the same tee shirt and jeans he'd been wearing the day they'd arrived. He was muttering something about hospitals not being a good place to get better.  
  
Turning she stood and watched Stefan stop at the foot of Corey's bed. The door to the room was still open and she could hear what he was saying. "You're mama said it was okay that I came to see you," by the thickness of his accent, she could tell that Stefan was not thinking clearly. He pulled himself up straight and cleared his throat, "Now you are to understand this, Corey Alexander Leight. You are not to die on me. You are to fight. You are to get better. I will not go through life, without you at my side. I will not spend the rest of my life not knowing what it is like to make love to you. Do you understand me?"  
  
Bonnie was surprised to hear that confession from Stefan. She like Chris had assumed that Corey and Stefan's relationship had progressed much further than that over the past year.  
  
"You always were a selfish a bastard," she heard Corey moan weakly, as his eyes opened.  
  
"Da, but a least I am not a Russian rat," she saw the tears streaking down Stefan's face, as he smiled at some inside joke.  
  
From that point on, he improved dramatically. Doctor Carter said that it just took time to clear his system of the radiation. It turned out that there was another submarine in the area, an English attack sub that had been severely damaged by the shark too. Its reactor core was breached and it had dumped a large dose of radiation into water. All hands had been lost.  
  
Once the radiation was gone, Corey's remarkable healing factor had kicked in. In a matter of a few short weeks, his legs had re-grown completely. His hair color had come back several shades darker where it had been streaked, with the white. The ironic thing was that it took longer for him to learn to walk again, than it did for him to heal. The whole time Stefan had stayed by his side as if to make sure he hadn't lost him.  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
ANGEL GROVE CALIFORNIA Tuesday 5:00 pm local time.  
  
Bill and the other three had discussed the matter, and decided to give Mrs. Carstairs' idea a try. Not so much out of an attempt to recapture lost glory, as to help a friend. He was still wondering why Adam was so interested in this. He understood his desire to help, even a stranger, but there was something deeper here.  
  
Finally, they'd decided that if they could help this woman free the people on that airliner, then they were willing to go back into action one more time. He watched as she bade them all to sit comfortably on the couch, as she passed from one to the other.  
  
Mrs. Carstairs started with Tanya, briefly touching the woman's dark complexioned face. There was a slight yellow glow that seemed to permeate the air around her. Bill felt an old excitement start to stir in his veins.  
  
Next was Adam. Once again, he wondered why the man was so eager to help, but kept his own counsel, as the former Ranger began to glow with an energy that seemed to shift between green and black.  
  
Jason was next, and Bill felt his heart quicken at the idea of seeing Jason in action one more time. He was slightly embarrassed at the thought of his lover's ass in that tight red spandex once again.  
  
After they'd given up the power, he never could get him into red spandex again. Jason also began to glow a deep and blushing red as if he could sense Billy's thoughts.  
  
Finally, the woman approached him. She smiled gently, and without a word reached out and touched his forehead. He felt a chorus of power suddenly rise in his blood, as he hadn't experienced in years. His very being began to sing a song of energy and vitality.  
  
Backing up from four former Rangers, Billy noticed a sad and tired smile on her face. "It's done," she told them.  
  
His friends slowly opened their eyes and turned to each other, wonder showing within. "It was always there?" Jason said in wonderment. I could feel it, but for some reason, I wouldn't let myself notice that  
  
I was feeling it."  
  
"That was part of the block placed there when you gave up the Power."  
  
She smiled, "It seems your salute, May the Power protect you always, was more true than you thought."  
  
"How long will it last?" Tanya asked.  
  
Mrs. Carstairs shook her head, "Until you die, or choose to shut it off again."  
  
"If we shut it down can we call it up again?" Adam asked.  
  
"Of course. It's your Power to use or not."  
  
Jason was looking down at himself in disappointment, "somehow I thought we'd be back in uniform."  
  
Mrs. Carstairs looked him up and down and then winked at Bill, "you really want to go out in public in red spandex?"  
  
Jason turned a rather interesting shade of red, and Bill felt a slight twinge of gratification. That's what you get for that corned beef remark. "I think spandex would be a bad idea for this mission, Jason," Bill told him. "It would stand out and make us targets."  
  
"Besides, I told you. The costumes and such were not the Power. This is the Power. They were just tools, window dressing, and eye candy. Things to excite the kiddies," Mrs. Carstairs told them.  
  
"What do we do now?" Adam asked.  
  
Mrs. Carstairs gave him a strange look. "Now we decide who's going to Montana with me, and who's going to Miami to sit on my son and make sure he doesn't do anything rash."  
  
Jason spoke up, "wait a minute. That guy pulled a nuclear submarine off the floor of the ocean. You want us to keep him in line?"  
  
"Yes, that's exactly what I want you to do if necessary." She winked at him. "After all, you're the ones with the Power." She looked them over, "But to be honest, Jason I need you to come with me.  
  
Between the two of us, we have a chance of getting this thing under control."  
  
"Bill and I will go," Adam told her.  
  
Granted, Bill was about to volunteer. After all, Corey was a friend, and he could probably use having another friend around right now, but Adam surprised him by volunteering. The look Tanya gave her husband, made Bill wonder though. "Fine with me," Bill said.  
  
"I thought you might volunteer," Mrs. Carstairs told Adam. She smiled and winked, "But I think your wife wants to speak with you in the other room first."  
  
Bill could see Adam swallow hard, and then nod, "I think that might be a good idea."  
  
Jason and Bill and watched their two friends leave the room. Jason turned to their guest, "Do you know what that's about?"  
  
"Yes." Mrs. Carstairs told him, "And no. I'm not going to tell you.  
  
There are times when some things should remain between spouses. Next question."  
  
"When this is all over, you and I are going to have a long talk Mrs. C." Bill told her.  
  
"Not if you keep calling me Mrs. C. we're not."  
  
"Okay then, Mrs. Carstairs."  
  
"Why don't you just call me Leighanne," the woman told him.  
  
"Very well, Leighanne," Jason replied with a smile.  
  
"I have a logistical problem about which to inquire Mrs. Carstairs."  
  
Bill asked.  
  
The woman sighed, "I asked you to call me Leighanne." She winked at him, "and your logistical problem would be?  
  
Bill smiled, "permission to Jason is not necessarily permission to me. And the question is."  
  
Leighanne smiled and shook her finger at him, "You, young man are more annoying than Stefan at his worst."  
  
Bill chuckled, "as I was saying: How are we going to get to Montana, and Miami. All flights are cancelled."  
  
"We're going to teleport of course," she told him. "You do remember how to do that, don't you?"  
  
"Not without the morphers,"  
  
"Don't worry, I'll show you," she patted him on the cheek, as Tanya and Adam returned from the other room.  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 10:00 pm local time:  
  
Chris sat down next Corey. "How're you hangin' bro?"  
  
Corey looked over and smiled weakly, "Not well. I was just thinking about little things. Like the lock of Stefan's hair that refuses to lie down." He smiled, and held up the pillow he'd been holding to his face, "Like this is his absolutely favorite pillow with which to curl up on the couch."  
  
"I know. Sometimes, it's the little things we take for granted. "With Bonnie, it's the way she always makes the bed right when we get up. Even if we're running late, and she won't let me do it to save her life."  
  
Corey gave him a strange, "Of course you've never made a bed worth shit in your life."  
  
"Well, there is that," Chris said. I'd tell you to go lie down, but I know that won't do any good. Mom said you were up with the sun this morning, doing laps in the pool. Now I know as well as she does what that means." He leaned back. "Wanna' talk about it?"  
  
"Not really," Corey told him, but his eyes said otherwise.  
  
"Well, I'm here if you want to talk. Dad's lying down in the guest room, his hip is giving him problems," Chris told him. "Bonnie's passed out on yours and Stefan's bed, so there's nobody around but you and me." Chris leaned back and watched an octopus try to escape the large tank in his brother's living room.  
  
Next to him, Corey sighed and Chris could see tears in his eyes. "I'm just afraid; I'll never see him again. That, we won't have time to make things right again."  
  
Chris gave him his best non-judgmental look, "What was wrong."  
  
"What's usually wrong with people?" Corey told him.  
  
"Stress, taxes- definitely taxes- the cable company making you wait ten hours to do a fifteen minute job." He leaned forward, "It couldn't have been that serious. You two always seemed so relaxed."  
  
Corey shook his head, "we were spending way too much time apart I think." He sighed, "We were growing apart and I didn't know what to do about it."  
  
Chris gave Corey a knowing look, "you haven't been. uh... uh."  
  
"No," Corey shook his head.  
  
"Stefan?" Chris asked. Corey just blushed, and Chris knew that to be a confirmation. "He know you know?" he asked.  
  
"He told me." Corey sighed.  
  
"And?" Chris asked afraid to hear the worst.  
  
"He said it only happened once," Corey sighed, "and that it won't happen again."  
  
"Do you believe him?" Chris asked.  
  
Corey nodded.  
  
"Do you know who it was?" Chris asked.  
  
"I have a good idea." Corey told him.  
  
"What you gonna' do about it?" Chris asked.  
  
"Nothing to do. Stefan wouldn't have been there if he didn't want to be. He's got to take it up with his own wife."  
  
"Stefan slept with a straight man?" Chris asked not believing it.  
  
Corey nodded. "Yeah. He said they both were drunk, and the guy was curious."  
  
"So it was a drunken curiosity thing?" Chris asked. Then he asked the question that was really bothering him, "He been tested?"  
  
"Stefan or A. the other guy?" Corey asked.  
  
"Stefan mainly," Chris asked.  
  
"Yeah. He's negative."  
  
"Anybody else know?"  
  
"Just mom."  
  
"What's mom say?"  
  
"Not a whole lot of anything." Corey told him. "Just that I'm supposed to try and make it work, if that's what I want."  
  
"And if you don't?"  
  
"Not a question." Corey looked at him, "Without Stefan, I'm not interested."  
  
"Think it's going to happen again?" Chris asked. "Is that what you're worried about?"  
  
Corey shook his head, "No. I trust him."  
  
"You trusted him once before."  
  
"I believe him." Corey said with a finality that made Chris wonder exactly who he was trying to convince.  
  
Corey sighed, and the look on his face reminded Chris of the look of exasperation he had the day of his and Stefan's commitment ceremony. It was one of those beautiful spring days that Miami was famous for- granted it was in February but it was beautiful non-the-less. Chris remembered how he'd taken great delight in teasing Corey about all the little details. Did he have the ring? Were the flowers ready? Had the caterers done their job? Chris didn't have the heart to tell him that Mom and Mrs. Vovarasky had stepped in and laid down the law to certain people. Either stop teasing Corey or certain photos of his bachelor party would reach Bonnie. He still wasn't sure how they'd gotten their hands on those pictures, but he just couldn't take the chance.  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Ten years ago:  
  
"Come on Fishboy," he'd told Corey. "Either get a move on, or you're gonna' be late." He smiled, "and if you're late, Mom'll have my hide."  
  
"You're not afraid of a little thing like mom, are you?" Corey had asked.  
  
"Uh, self-preservationist here." Chris told him.  
  
Chris was careful to take Corey the long way around the house to hide the band. Corey and Stefan had decided on not having any music, because they didn't want to ask any of their friends from Nashville to play, but didn't want to offend any of them by hiring a local band that wasn't as good. The only music planned was the song from their "coming out" video. Chris on the other hand had called several of Corey's friends and explained the situation.  
  
He carefully, guided Corey next to where Stefan was standing, the young Russian was grinning from ear to ear. Chris gave him a sharp look trying to get him not to give it away. The ceremony itself was rather brief, as the two exchanged vows not too different from the ones he and Bonnie had used in their wedding. As the minister finished the ceremony and presented the couple, they exchanged a brief kiss, and turned to face the audience of friends and family. Chris would remember the look on Corey's face for the rest of his life when an impromptu band of some of country music's biggest names began to sing "their" song.  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 11:14 pm local time:  
  
Adam was surprised at how easy it was to adapt his thinking to using the Power without a morpher. It seems that they could teleport without accessing the grid. He wondered what else they would discover about the Power as time went on.  
  
Arriving in Miami, just outside a rather expensive looking low slung home built right on the beach; he looked around to discover that it was one of only three on the whole street. "Nice neighborhood," he said. "I guess being a country music star does pay well."  
  
Bill gave him strange look. "Why you thinking of scaring us all to death by starting to sing?"  
  
Adam smiled. "Not me. Tanya won't even let me sing in the shower. The kids say it hurts their ears."  
  
"Smart move on her part," Bill told him. Adam reached for the doorbell, but Bill stopped him. "Want to tell me what's going on with you?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Adam hoped he sounded innocent.  
  
"I mean that you've only met Stefan about three times, and don't know Corey at all. But for some reason, you seem awful interested in what's going on."  
  
"They're friends of yours. You're worried about them, so I'm worried about them." Adam hoped he sounded convincing.  
  
"I don't know Adam. I think there's something else." Bill told him.  
  
"Look, I may have only met Stefan three times, but I like the guy."  
  
"That must be it," Bill told him not sounding convinced at all. He didn't want to explain to one of his best friends just what kind of trouble he'd gotten himself into with Stefan.  
  
  
  
*  
  
  
  
ANGEL GROVE thirteen months ago:  
  
Adam and Tanya had been invited to a party at Bill's to celebrate his research partner and him receiving a grant they'd been hoping to get for over a year. Bill had once joked about the first rule of research being never use your own money. Considering how well he seemed to be doing professionally, it looked like he was taking his own advice.  
  
Tanya had been unable to come along due to another conference she had to attend in New York. The kids were staying with his mother, so he pretty much had the night free. To be honest with himself, he also had had way too much to drink that night. At least had by the end of it.  
  
He'd spent a great deal of time that evening watching Bill and Jason. He found himself feeling just a little jealous of his friends' relationship. They never seemed to fight- much anyway- and were always so discrete that there were times that if you didn't know they were a couple, you'd have never guessed it.  
  
After a while, he found himself finally admitting the attraction he'd always felt for his old friend, the former Blue Ranger. Not that he'd ever act on it, he loved both Jason and Bill, not to mention Tanya too much for that, but he could at least finally admit that there were certain feelings he'd never allowed himself to act upon.  
  
"Looks like I'm not the only one spending this celebration alone," a slurred voice behind him with a thick Russian accent said.  
  
Turning he saw a strikingly good-looking blond man. He recognized him as Bill's research partner Dr. Vovarasky.  
  
"Congratulations, Doctor Vovarasky," he told the man, uneasily.  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Park," Adam was surprised the man had remembered his name.  
  
"Like I said, it seems I'm not the only one celebrating alone," there was a bitterness to the man's voice that should have warned Adam of trouble.  
  
"My wife's busy in New York," Adam told him casually.  
  
The man smiled and chuckled bitterly, "My husband, if you could call him that, is busy entertaining pre-pubescent girls in Seattle tonight?"  
  
"Huh?" Adam asked.  
  
"He's a singer," the man told him. "A rather popular one at that."  
  
"I take it, that he's not home a lot huh?"  
  
Dr. Vovarasky replied, "Something like that." He smiled strangely, "Just can't seem to get our schedules together."  
  
"Maybe you both should take a week off," Adam suggested the idea he'd been meaning to talk to Tanya about.  
  
"Tried that," Dr. Vovarasky told him. "His work called, then my work called, and the next thing you know he's on the road, and I'm back in Angel Grove." He downed the rest of his drink.  
  
"Ah." Adam told him. "Sounds like a real bummer, Dr. Vovarasky."  
  
"You don't know the half of it. But please, call me Stefan. Dr. Vovarasky is my mother and father."  
  
"Okay," Adam had told him. "You call me Adam."  
  
"Agreed," Stefan replied.  
  
The man was sounding like he'd been feeling lately. Tanya had been busy with her career as an investment banker- constantly away on business, and he'd been tied up with work, so they'd seen little of each other as well lately. He was surprised they even recognized each other's faces any more.  
  
"Tell you what?" Adam said, "Why don't we both get another drink and cry on each other's shoulders." Adam couldn't believe he actually said that. At the time though it sounded like a good idea.  
  
The two disappeared into the garden to talk, and he found that he had a lot in common with the scientist. By the time the party broke up, he offered to share a cab with him- not wanting to drive in his current condition- to drop him off at the hotel before it took him home. In his and Stefan's defense, it can be said that that was genuinely both men's intentions.  
  
Stefan had agreed, but the conversation had become rather intense, and Adam kept finding himself wondering more about the scientist. Some of what he was wondering wasn't exactly appropriate for a married man. When Stefan had offered him another drink- he said he had some good Russian Vodka in his room, he decided, what the hell. The kids were at his mother's, Tanya was away, and one more drink wouldn't kill him. Of course, he was already drunk enough so the idea of laying a few of those curiosities to rest didn't sound like such a bad idea at the time either. Boy was he ever wrong about that.  
  
"Vodka's in the suitcase. Help yourself," Stefan told him as he hung up his tuxedo jacket. "I am going to remove this monkey suit." He began undressing right there. "I never could stand the damn things."  
  
"At least you don't have to wear them often," Adam told him, not being able to resist staring as the man stripped before his eyes.  
  
"No. Not often," his accent became more acute, "but often enough to dislike them." Adam was surprised at the shape the man was in. He had the build of someone who spent a great deal of time swimming. "How about you? Do you wear them often?"  
  
"Can't say that I really do," Adam told him, trying unsuccessfully not to stare at the man's form, as she lay back on the bed in his boxers.  
  
"You might as well get comfortable," Stefan told him. "Good vodka should be drunk in complete comfort." He reached over and poured himself a couple of fingers of the clear liquid. As he turned, Adam got a glimpse of the rather impressive sight through the fly of the boxers. He felt himself starting to respond in spite of, or maybe because of all the alcohol he'd consumed.  
  
Draining his own his glass he pulled off his jacket and reached across the man for the vodka, his arm brushing against Stefan as he pulled the bottle back. A sudden intake of breath caught his attention. "I seem to have a small," Stefan glanced down at quickly hardening cock rising from his fly, "problem."  
  
Adam couldn't resist, "small isn't a word I'd use for that."  
  
He found his eyes glued to Stefan now standing at attention less than a foot from his face.  
  
Adam still doesn't know why he did what he did next. Maybe it was all the drink he'd had, maybe it was his own loneliness. He wasn't sure what it was. He dropped the bottle on the bed, the next thing he knew, he was being pulled up and Stefan was kissing him passionately, as the other man's hands reached for his belt.  
  
In their inebriated states, Adam was surprised that they were even able to get him undressed. It was the clumsiest sex either of them had ever had. And there was no other way to describe it, but as sex. He realized that he'd finally put his curiosity rest, just before he passed out.  
  
Adam had awakened a couple of hours later, with Stefan still on top of him. As the memory of what he'd just done came crashing around on him, he grabbed his clothes and quickly dressed. How could he have let himself get that far out of control? How could he have betrayed Tanya like that? Tears in his eyes, he made his way home.  
  
Two weeks of moping later, he'd sat down with Tanya and told her the whole thing. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life- even harder than giving up the Powers. It had taken almost a year, but the two had gotten through it. She'd been angry with him of course, hurt beyond all measure, but she still loved him, and he her. They were going to make it work. Now he found himself outside the door of the other injured party to his and Stefan's indiscretion, unknowing if Corey even knew he had been betrayed.  
  
*  
  
  
  
MONTANA Tuesday 9:20 pm local time:  
  
Tanya looked down to the valley below. The jetliner with the words Ranger Airlines prominent on its tail was sitting at the end of the small airfield. She wondered how the pilot had been able to land the damn thing is such a small area.  
  
"I'm going to scout around," Jason said to her.  
  
"Good. See how many people are watching from the mountains," Leighanne told him.  
  
Tanya watched as Jason disappeared among the rocks. When she was sure that he well out of earshot, she turned to Leighanne, "How long have you known?"  
  
"Known what my dear," the woman said in that infuriating tone of voice that reminded her so much of Zordon.  
  
"Please don't do that to me. I've had enough people take a condescending attitude toward me lately."  
  
"My dear, I'm not attempting to take a condescending attitude. I'm simply trying to determine the nature of your question," the tone remained.  
  
"Never mind," she shook her head.  
  
"No, it's obviously an important question. So please ask it." Leighanne told her.  
  
"That's okay," she turned back toward plane. "How do you think we're going to get them out?"  
  
"Probably by snapping all the necks of the terrorists but one and allowing him to be taken into custody," Mrs. Carstairs told her.  
  
Tanya shuddered at the thought, "I'm not used to killing combat. Rangers are trained to avoid excessive uses of force."  
  
"So just knock him down and make sure he's not going to get back up for a while," the intense woman told her. "Just make sure your first strike takes him out before he can fire on the hostages."  
  
Tanya looked up and nodded, "Will do."  
  
"I'm sorry Tanya. I'm not usually this intense. It's the situation," Leighanne apologized.  
  
"Glad to hear it. Although I can't say that I wouldn't be the same way if somebody I loved was down there."  
  
"My husband calls it the mama bear syndrome." She smiled, "You know, don't get between a mama bear and her cub."  
  
"I understand," she chuckled to herself.  
  
"The scary part is I'm ten times worse with my grandchildren."  
  
"I don't know. I've had a lot of growing up to do over the last year or so." She shook her head, "I'm beginning to discover that the world isn't always a Saturday morning action show. There really are not nice people out there. And the nice people sometimes do things that aren't so nice."  
  
"All the monsters aren't always invaders from beyond with grand schemes to take over the world?" Leighanne smiled.  
  
"No. You would think that being friends with Jason, I would've realized that by now." She shook her head, "But, he doesn't talk about his work that much."  
  
"It's a reflex mechanism," Leighanne told her. "You don't always want all the dirt you have to deal with on a daily basis sullying your family." As if remembering something the woman continued, "Corey's father was like that- what happened at work stayed at work. I was like that when I was with the Bureau."  
  
"I guess Jason, doesn't want us to see all the ugliness he sees regularly," she sighed, "Although I wonder how Billy deals with him going off into danger everyday."  
  
The woman took a small locket on a long chain from her neck, "what you do is keep something of theirs with you every day and pray to whatever deities listen."  
  
"I guess that works," Tanya told her. "I still don't think I could deal with it. No matter what may have happened between Adam and me, I still love him very much, and couldn't stand to see him get hurt."  
  
"Well, that's what matters," Leighanne replied. "But think about this. You've sent him to relative safety, while you've put yourself in harm's way. Do you think that was easy for him?"  
  
Tanya hadn't considered it. It must have been hard for him to let her come here, knowing there would be danger, knowing whom else would be here. Especially knowing he was going to be facing a man who he'd help betray where he was going. "I see what you mean. No matter which mission he took, it was a lose/lose situation for him."  
  
"But he trusted you to trust him," Leighanne told her.  
  
"Says a lot," Tanya found herself nodding.  
  
"Hey guys," Jason called. "There's a small FBI command post at the mouth of the valley. Beyond that, there are three snipers, two on that wall, and one on the opposite one. There's also a guy up there," he pointed toward the head of the valley, "with an anti-tank weapon".  
  
Tanya watched Jason as he looked over to Leighanne. Although she'd never worked with him, she'd always heard he was a good leader. Now she was sure of it. He seemed to think about the situation for several minutes before turning to Leighanne, "Can you use your telepathy to find out how many hijackers there are?"  
  
"Watch my back," she told them as she sat down. For long minutes the woman seemed to sit quietly, unmoving, her eyes closed.  
  
About the time, Tanya began to believe the Leighanne had fallen asleep, her eyes opened. "Four hijackers are alive, two are dead.  
  
Several of the hostages are wounded, including Stefan. It looks like  
  
the passengers staged a coup, but failed."  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Tuesday 11:21 pm local time:  
  
"Hello Chris," Bill told the man who opened the door.  
  
"Doc," Chris replied. "Who's your friend?"  
  
Bill turned to Adam, "This is Adam Park, he's a friend of mine, and an acquaintance of Stefan's."  
  
Bill noticed Chris give Adam a rather sharp look, before finally smiling. "Come on in." He turned back, and led them through a dark living room into the kitchen. Bill thought he saw a large form huddled on the couch.  
  
"I take it, Corey's finally asleep," Bill told him.  
  
"Mom send you?" Chris asked, taking down a couple of coffee cups. "If I remember correct, you like yours black."  
  
He nodded toward Adam, "you?"  
  
"Black's fine," Adam replied.  
  
"Yes, your mom sent me, although to tell you the truth, I probably would have come anyway." Bill replied. "At least I'd like to think I would have come anyway." He shook his head, "Your mother can really confuse people some times."  
  
"You been popping up on people's doorstep very long?" Chris smiled at their confused looks before explaining, "No car, and you didn't set off the gate alarms."  
  
Bill smiled. He'd always known there was more to Chris than just a fine construction engineer. Evidently, there was a keen mind under that mop of brown hair too. "Sorry about that."  
  
"S'okay," Chris smiled, "Around this family, you get used to strange things happening." He poured the three of them a cup of coffee and offered chairs.  
  
"Any news yet?" Bill asked.  
  
"No. I'm expecting a call from mom as soon as she makes contact with the FBI though. Never call them when they are on assignment. Let them call you."  
  
Bill just smiled, "sometimes it's harder on those of us who have to sit and wait."  
  
"You're telling me. It's a position I've been in more than once. Especially with Fishboy as a brother."  
  
"Fishboy?" Adam asked.  
  
Chris chuckled, "My brother, the real-life Aquaman." He shook his head, "let's see, he's fought huge great whites, some incredibly old guy who wanted to take over the world's oceans, a couple of rabid preachers- although truth be known I think Dad beating God into that one, helped that situation- and several thousand screaming twelve to sixteen year old girls. Those are the truly scary ones."  
  
"That's it, I'm completely lost," Adam said.  
  
"Oh yeah, and my wife in the delivery room when she had our youngest. Corey was the only person she'd let get close to her. Mom was out of country, Dad was evil incarnate by association with me, I was at the bottom of the ocean working on the Project."  
  
"How's he holding up?" Bill asked. "Your mom is afraid that he's going to get a wild hair and go after the plane when he finds out where it is."  
  
"As well as can be expected," Chris told him. "Now it's his turn to do the sitting and waiting, and it's about to kill him." Chris sighed, "But it's not like he's going to do anything stupid. He knows what could happen. Some times it's hell being an obvious parahuman."  
  
"Is there anything we can do alleviate the situation?" Bill asked.  
  
"Snap your fingers and make Stefan appear?" A tall dark haired man wearing rumpled dress pants and a shirt as he entered the kitchen. "I thought I heard someone come in."  
  
"Dad," Chris told him, "This is Dr. William Cranston, and a friend of Stefan's Adam Park." Bill noticed a slight change in tone at the word friend.  
  
"Boys," the man nodded fixing himself a cup of coffee.  
  
Chris continued, "Dr. Cranston, Adam, this is my Dad, George Carstairs."  
  
"Nice to meet you sir," Bill told him and smiled. Looking over at the man, "Funny, I don't see the evil cane of retribution."  
  
The big man smiled and sat down with them, "I don't do that anymore. That's his wife's job. She's better at it than I am."  
  
All three chuckled and Bill got the feeling that he was being let into a rather select and exclusive club. Those allowed to joke around the kitchen table. "Well, is there anything we can do?"  
  
Chris yawned, "Take shift at watching Corey? We don't want to let him brood too much. Try to get him to eat. When he's upset, he stops eating. If you can get him to rest, that too."  
  
Bill turned to Adam, "Is this what you guys did to Jason last year?"  
  
Adam just smiled, "Something like that. We were going to use rope on him though."  
  
"Ropes and chains don't work on Corey," Mr. Carstairs told them, "He just snaps them like they were tissue paper."  
  
  
  
"I kind of got that impression," Adam replied.  
  
"Your mother called yet?" the big man asked.  
  
"Not yet. You know how she gets." Chris told him.  
  
"Well it is thirty years worth of experience coming back to haunt her and whomever she's working with."  
  
"Tell you what," Adam told them. "Why don't you get some rest, and Billy and I'll stay up with Corey for a few hours."  
  
Chris looked over at his father for confirmation. The bigger man just nodded, "go on. I'll wait for her to call."  
  
"Thanks, I'm beat." Chris told them yawning as he left the room.  
  
  
  
MONTANA: Tuesday 10:15 pm local time:  
  
It took nearly an hour for them to work their way down the slopes, to reach the small FBI command post. Leighanne was impressed by these former Power Rangers. They were good people with a keen sense of responsibility. Unfortunately, they were getting a crash course in the ugliness that society could offer.  
  
Breezing past the sentries at the tent, she walked up to the tall black man who was obviously in charge, "Well Morgan, where do you want us?"  
  
The man turned around and growled, "If I had my way, back home keeping your boy out of trouble." He sighed, "But since I knew I couldn't have that, I was wondering how long it would take you to show up."  
  
He looked over at the man and woman with him, "Where's the rest of that insane asylum you call a family?"  
  
"They're at home. That was the compromise. You either got me, or you got Corey," she told him.  
  
Again, he nodded at the man and woman with her, "Who're these two?"  
  
"Two new associates of mine," she told him. "Red and Yellow."  
  
Morgan just smiled, "Primary colors huh? Where's Blue?"  
  
"Helping Christopher keep Corey in line."  
  
She turned to her associates, "Red, Yellow," she began, "meet the meanest son-of-bitch the FBI academy ever produced. His name is Morgan Jackson, and he was my partner for ten years."  
  
Morgan smiled at them, "More like her keeper." She saw him register the nervousness in her colleagues, "Don't worry, I'm not going to pry into who you really are. Keeps me sane that way." He smiled and turned to Leighanne, "I see you're still working with children though."  
  
"You know any adults that are agreeable? Besides, they're in thirties. Well over my usual crew's age." She smiled, "Don't forget Morgan, when this is over, the job opening is still there for you."  
  
Morgan leaned back ignoring the offer, "Okay, what do you know?"  
  
"I know you've got four hijackers left out of the original six, because the passengers staged an unsuccessful coup. I know you have three dead passengers, a Senator from Kansas, a housewife from Boston, and a naval pilot. I know you have several wounded passengers, including Stefan. I know there are three FBI snipers in the mountains, and one terrorist up there with a LAW rocket. I also know there are one plain clothed colonel and two other senators on the plane. I'm also aware that there are several members of the government that want to call for a pre-emptive strike to take out the terrorists because of their proximity to Cheyenne Mountain."  
  
"Damn girl," Morgan told her, "you just told me something I didn't know."  
  
"Well, Red here found your snipers and your law rocket."  
  
Morgan chuckled, "Oh, I knew about him." He smiled at her, "I didn't know Stefan was among the wounded." The smile disappeared from his face, "Is it serious,"  
  
"Extremely,"  
  
Morgan nodded, "good."  
  
"Good?" Leighanne couldn't believe what she just heard.  
  
Morgan turned and smiled, "If the boy's hurt that bad, he's not likely to get himself involved in a firefight and get himself killed."  
  
"True, but if we don't get him out of there in the next twenty-four hours, they're all dead."  
  
"Got any ideas?" Morgan asked.  
  
"Several actually," Leighanne pulled him over to the map, "let's talk."  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Wednesday 3:00 a.m. local time:  
  
Corey opened his eyes to see the last person he expected sitting at the end of the couch, "Hello, Adam." He recognized the man from a photo of the celebration he'd missed.  
  
After Stefan's confession, he decided to see at least what his competition looked like.  
  
A quick ping told him the man's heart rate had suddenly shot through the roof, although his exterior cool didn't break. "Hello Corey," the man replied.  
  
Sitting up on one elbow, "to be honest, you're the last person I expected to see here."  
  
"To be honest, I'm the last person I expected to be here," the man replied.  
  
Looking around, he saw the sleeping form of Bill Cranston in one chair, and George sleeping in another. "I take it's your turn to be my sitter?"  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
Corey looked him up and down. He was an attractive Asian man of about his own age, "Any word yet?"  
  
"Just what the news is reporting?" Adam told him, "Jason, Tanya, and Mrs. Carstairs haven't reported in yet."  
  
Corey shook his head, "what do they have to do with anything?"  
  
"They're in Montana attempting to get Stefan back."  
  
Corey looked around the room, "Let's go into the kitchen so we won't disturb Bill and George." He got up without seeing if Adam would follow.  
  
"So how long have they been sitting on you like this?" Adam asked.  
  
"Since about four yesterday." He looked Adam up and down, "How long you and Bill been here?" He sent out a quick series of pings to the man, and was surprised at some of the reading he got back.  
  
"Since about eleven last night. We got here about the same time they landed in Montana," Adam told him. Corey had gone over this meeting a hundred times in his mind, but never under these circumstances. He wasn't sure what to say. Before he could say anything Adam sighed, "You know this isn't exactly how I pictured this going."  
  
Corey chuckled, "me neither." He sighed and looked the man up and down again as he processed the data from the pings. There was some kind of energy field flowing through him. It was making it difficult to get an accurate reading on anything but the most basic of data. Finally, he sighed and asked, "Do you love him?"  
  
"Pardon?" Adam asked.  
  
"I thought I was clear," he tried to emulate his mother's best tone, "Do you love Stefan?"  
  
"Stefan is your life partner. I'm very much in love with my wife," He sighed, "And to be honest, I think that on that night, I think we both needed someone."  
  
Corey wasn't sure if he was ready to hear that. Without realizing what he was doing, Adam had managed to give him an honest answer that did more to recriminate Corey than if he'd told him, that he just wanted a good tumble. If it had simply been that, Corey would have been hurt but not feel guilty. The man had made it clear that he'd been neglecting Stefan. "I see."  
  
"Some how I get the feeling that wasn't the answer you wanted to hear."  
  
"No, but it's the honest one." Corey told him.  
  
"What did Stefan tell you?" Adam asked.  
  
"Why don't you tell me what happened," Corey poured himself a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair.  
  
"Do you think that's a good idea?"  
  
"Probably not, but it gets it all out in the open," Corey told him.  
  
Adam sighed, "All right. You want to drag us both down memory lane. Who am I to argue?" He sat down across from Corey. "You sure you want to hear this? The whole ugly story?"  
  
Corey nodded.  
  
"Okay, we met up at Stefan's and Bill's party. I'd had way, way too much to drink. So had Stefan. Big moment, the grant they'd been working on for a year, they finally got it. And you weren't there for it. We got to talking. And drinking, and talking some more.  
  
Finally, we realized we were the last two people drinking and talking. I swear, all that was planned was to share a cab. We were both too drunk to drive. Cab stopped in front of Stefan's hotel. He told me he had a bottle of very good Russian vodka and he didn't want to drink alone." Corey could see that this was tearing at Adam too. Having to face a mistake like this was hard on him.  
  
"We were at that stage where we'd drunk entirely too much," Adam told him. "One minute, we were both on the verge of crying, and the next I'm exploring his anatomy." He sighed, "I initiated it."  
  
Corey shook his head and sighed. It had been painful to hear, but he needed to, "No. Stefan wouldn't have been there if he hadn't wanted to be. He's a big boy."  
  
Adam smiled ruefully, "you can say that again."  
  
Corey couldn't help but laugh.  
  
Adam, looked at him, "Corey, you don't seem to get it. I don't think he even realized it was me until the next morning. He was calling your name. And to tell you the truth, once I sobered up and realized what had happened, I ran like a scalded cat. It took me two weeks to tell my wife. Hell it took me that long to stop praying that she wouldn't leave me and work up the nerve."  
  
Corey chuckled, "Don't blame yourself too much." He leaned back in his chair, "You know? I actually have a great deal of respect for you now. Not many people would be willing to face a situation like this." He sighed, "And according to Stefan, he initiated it."  
  
Adam shook his, "Not the way I remembered it."  
  
Corey smiled, "sounds like two honest men who made an honest mistake and are both trying to take more of the responsibility than is their share." He leaned forward, "Don't get me wrong. It hurts like hell, and if you ever do something like that again with Stefan, I'll break both of you in half."  
  
"If I ever do something like that again, period. I'll let you." Adam told him. He smiled, "look, I just about wet myself just now." Looking around, he asked, "You got a bathroom I can use?"  
  
Corey smiled, "that's not usually the effect I have on people. But, there's a bathroom through there." He pointed toward the secondary hall leading to study.  
  
Adam disappeared down the hall. George stuck his head in, Bill a moment later, "You two get an earful?" he asked.  
  
"Don't know what you're talking about son," George told him. "Got any of that coffee left?"  
  
Corey smiled, "It's in the pot." He took his first sip and winced, "Chris made it huh?"  
  
Bill chuckled and reached for the glasses not on his face, "How'd you know?"  
  
"It taste like old shoe leather boiled in kerosene, with just a touch of carbon thrown in for flavoring." Corey told him, "Look Bill, I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Stefan or Adam about what you just heard."  
  
"All right," he told him, "But you and I are going to have a talk later."  
  
Corey smiled, and looked out the window. "You know, if Stefan gets out of this alive, I think I'm going to take him on a long vacation."  
  
Bill reached over and grabbed Corey by the wrist. He was surprised at the man's strength, "I don't want to hear any more of that, if business. When Stefan gets home, you two are going to take a long vacation. No cell phones and no pagers." He leaned back, "but I can tell you this much Corey." He looked over at Mr. Carstairs, "and I don't mean to shock you sir," turning back he continued, "When he gets home, don't be surprised what he asks you for. Just give it to him. Give it to him, the way he wants it, when he wants it." He smiled, "You can compromise on the where, but not the when and how." Corey saw his eyes seem to go back over time, "When I came home, after my ordeal at sea, I think I scared Jason with the intensity of what I wanted. I needed to know I was still alive. I needed to know that it was real and not just some fantasy I'd conjured up in my mind to give me the strength to keep going. I suspect Stefan will be the same way. Give it to him. "  
  
Corey smiled, "You know, I don't think I would have taken that particular piece of advice from anybody but you Bill."  
  
"Well just make sure you put it to good use." He laughed, "after all, I don't give free advice but once every couple of years."  
  
"What kind of advice was that?" Adam asked from the door.  
  
Bill winked at him and turned, "Oh we were just talking about how to please our husbands. Not something you'd have any experience with."  
  
Adam just blushed and hurried from the room, as George put a plate of food in front Corey. "Eat. That's an order."  
  
Corey looked down at the food, and felt his stomach lurch. "I'm not hungry, Dad."  
  
"If you don't eat, you're not going to have the strength to ambush and ravish your old man when he comes home," George told him.  
  
"And if I do eat right now, somebody'll end up wearing it. You know how I get when I'm upset."  
  
George put his elbows on Corey shoulders, resting his chin on Corey's head, "Don't worry son. She'll bring him home."  
  
Corey sighed, "I hope so. However, let's for once be honest. It doesn't look good."  
  
"No it doesn't look the brightest in the world, but somehow I think your mother and your friends can make things come out all right." He patted him on the forearm. "Now I think I'm going to go and check on Chris and Bonnie."  
  
Corey smiled, "I wouldn't do that Dad."  
  
"Oh Lord not again."  
  
"It's not that. I think they're actually sleeping. I wouldn't disturb them."  
  
"You sure. I didn't know those two knew what a bedroom was for," George left the room chuckling.  
  
"You're family's a lot more open about certain things than what I'm used to."  
  
"Well, you know, I've got two perfectly crazy parents and a brother I'll share with you if you want." He smiled, "Trust me, as far as mom's concerned, the more the better. " Sighing he told, "And after this, you and Jason will be one of hers."  
  
"Is this a good thing?" Bill asked worriedly.  
  
"It's a Southern thing," Corey laughed. "On the plus side, it means you have access to the best crab salad on the Gulf."  
  
"Ah, this is a good thing." Bill laughed. Getting up, the blond walked across the room and checked to see if anyone was listening. Corey could have told him nobody was around, but everybody kept forgetting about his sonar. It was a testament as to how normal they treated him.  
  
Coming back to the table Bill looked him seriously, "Look Corey, I don't want to pry into your personal business. Your relationship with Stefan is your own concern, but I can't imagine that anything that might have happened between Adam and Stefan was serious."  
  
Corey sipped his coffee and grimaced again, "And that's supposed to make me feel better?"  
  
Bill frowned and looked down at his own cup, "that didn't come out right did it?"  
  
"No it didn't. But I appreciate what you're trying to do." Corey told him. "Stefan and I are getting over it. He told me about it the next day." Corey reached out and took Bill's hand. "I wish you hadn't heard. I don't want it to affect yours and Adam's friendship."  
  
Bill shook his head. "That's going to be hard for me. I've always seen the other Ran. uh my friends as something of a cut above most people. You know with a higher sense of morals. This kind of strikes pretty hard at that."  
  
Corey smiled, "that's a dangerous pedestal to put people on. You're likely to be disappointed. It's best to accept them for who they are. Mistakes and all."  
  
"I'm afraid I still have a lot to learn about people."  
  
"We all do pal. We all do. I still love Stefan. I won't say I wasn't hurt by what happened, because I was. I was hurt very deeply, and I'm sure Adam's wife was too. However, I love Stefan more than life itself. I can't imagine him not being by my side. I can learn to live with this, as long as it doesn't happen again."  
  
*  
  
  
  
MONTANA Wednesday 3:30 am local time:  
  
Jason closed with the jetliner under the cover of darkness.  
  
Behind him, he knew that Tanya and Leighanne were converging on the big wheels at the nose of the plane from opposite directions. He could feel his blood sing with the Power, and was surprised at how intoxicating it was.  
  
"So far so good," Tanya whispered at his side.  
  
"So far so good," Leighanne told her. "But we're just getting started." Jason watched as she closed her eyes. He could see tiny beads of sweat form on her brow as she concentrated. Suddenly her eyes opened, "They're asleep. Go!"  
  
Jason concentrated, and imagined the image of the front passenger section of the plane. He felt a familiar surge of energy and then the freedom of the transport. The darkness of the outside gave way to the dimly lit interior he'd imagined. A young woman stirred in her sleep and looked to where he appeared. He smiled, bringing his fingers to his lips. She nodded and gave him the okay sign.  
  
He felt the air pressure in the cabin change twice and realized that his compatriots had arrived inside as well. Using the skills of a Ranger, he'd long since thought forgotten, he slipped up closely to the sleeping gunman. It was a good thing Leighanne waited until nightfall, when people dropping off to sleep wouldn't be so out of place.  
  
The man with the gun never knew what hit him. Two quick jabs and he wasn't going to wake up for a long time. Quickly and silently, he disarmed and stripped him down to his underwear. Looking down at the pistol the man had managed to smuggle onto the plane, he stuck it in his belt and moved on. Considering the security on planes since 2001, he realized this had to be an inside job.  
  
Double-checking the compartment, he moved deeper into the bowels of the plane. People were sprawled everywhere, asleep, trying to get as comfortable as they could in the torture devices the airlines called seats. Coming into the next compartment, he was overwhelmed with the smell of gunpowder and blood. Several people lay piled like so many rags in the stewardess area. He got the distinct feeling that these men never truly intended to release the hostages at all. A lone man was asleep leaning against the wall, a large automatic pistol still gripped firmly in his hand.  
  
Jason could see his breathing quicken and realized that not everybody was as asleep as he wanted him to think. Years of instincts from being a detective on the force combine with the return of the Power, suddenly screamed danger. Without thinking, he rolled forward and down the aisle, coming up in a quick front kick. There was a satisfied crunching sound as his foot crushed the man's hand against the reinforced bulkhead of the plane. Without looking, he dispatched with a quick vicious jab to the side of the head and spun around to see who was behind him, as the gun clattered uselessly to the floor.  
  
A single man, barely more than boy was holding one of the hostages in front of him. He could see the hostage had bloodstained bandage on his stomach. A sickening feeling came over Jason as he realized the boy was holding a very sharp looking knife to Stefan's throat. "Get back, or I will him," the man told Jason.  
  
Stefan groaned, "It doesn't matter. He'll kill me anyway."  
  
Jason took a step forward and saw the man back away, "You heard him. It doesn't matter to him. Why should it matter to me? You kill him, you've lost your hostage, and I'll have down before your can get another one."  
  
"You'll have to kill me first."  
  
Jason shook head. He knew he was dealing with a suicide case here. He'd probably been told that if he died, then he'd go straight to heaven where he would be attended by many virgins. "Got news for you bud. It doesn't work that way. You kill him, and you're going jail. A nice American jail. That is after you tell the FBI everything you know about your cell."  
  
"I will kill him!" He held the knife tighter to Stefan's throat.  
  
"Yeah." He indicated behind the man where Tanya was standing, "then she will take you down. Then you will have to deal with the shame of being captured by a mere woman."  
  
Tanya leaned in closer, "Go ahead. Kill him. I want to see you do it."  
  
"What? You want to see the hostage die," The man was confused.  
  
"That particular hostage," Tanya told him, "sure. Why do you think I was willing to come on this mission? To make sure that he didn't get off this plane alive."  
  
Jason was confused now, "Tanya?" he asked.  
  
"I mean it Jason. I don't care what else happens to me, I want to see Stefan Vovarasky dead."  
  
"Tanya," he called to her, "Uh. Is there something you want to tell me?"  
  
She smiled and the coldness in her voice went right down Jason's spine, "We'll talk later. After Vovarasky is dead. If this son of a pig kills him, so much the better. I don't have to get my hands dirty."  
  
"Mrs. Park?" Stefan coughed.  
  
"That's me Vovarasky," Tanya told him.  
  
Stefan chuckled, and blood run from his mouth, "Looks like you took the wrong hostage, towel-head." He had a coughing fit that shook his whole body, "This particular rescuer has dibs on my life. Go ahead kill me. At least you'll make it quicker than she will."  
  
"What's this about?" the man asked. "What are you talking about?" He was confused and beginning to look around wild eyed. Jason saw his grip slip just slightly. Faster than any human arm could travel, Tanya lashed out, and snatched Stefan from the man's grip, while drawing fist back for a killing blow.  
  
"Tanya! No!" Jason leaped forward, snap kicking the man in the side of the head as he tackled his teammate. He wasn't about to let her finish off Vovarasky, after he'd spent this much trouble getting him back. His momentum carried both of them to the ground as Tanya's blow came around and caught him in the side of the head. Just before everything went black his last thoughts were, "I've failed."  
  
Stefan felt himself collapse to the ground. If the terrorist didn't kill, him Park would, and if she didn't get him, all this yanking around was going to jar something he'd been holding together with his hands loose. The hole in his stomach felt like it suddenly got bigger, and he felt the blood start oozing from between his fingers again.  
  
"You still with us Vovarasky?" Tanya's face appeared above him.  
  
"Da," he answered. "Still going to kill me?"  
  
She gave him a wicked smile, "Me?" she shook heard, "Nah. Your mother-in- law might, but I won't. Not this time." She leaned down, so that they were nose to nose, "But if you ever touch Adam again, I'll make you wish I had killed you."  
  
That was the last thing he heard before the darkness took him.  
  
*  
  
  
  
MIAMI Wednesday 10:3O am local time.  
  
"Don't just stand there looking at it," Bonnie told the room full of men as she picked up the phone, "Answer it." Putting the receiver to her hear, "Leight residence." There was long pause. "Where are you?" Another pause, "Any news?" Another short pause, "What happened?" George could see his daughter-in-law's face scrunch up, as she sighed, "That's not what I mean. How is he?" A smile came across her face, "When can Fishboy see him?" There was another pause as the mood in the room lightened, "Well be there."  
  
She turned to Corey, "Get packed. You're going to Billings. Stefan's in a hospital there." Corey's went from relief back to worry, "Don't worry tall dark and fishy, he'll recover. Just several wounds. I'd say if they'll let your mom see him, he'll be recovered within the week."  
  
George knew what that meant. Leighanne thought nobody else in the family knew about her gift. However, it was generally accepted knowledge that she was an empathic healer. She would accelerate Stefan's healing by taking the damage onto herself and slowly disperse it. It would make her grumpy, sore, and mean as a wet cat for a week or so, but Stefan would be all right.  
  
George watched as his family closed around Corey. Once again, they'd made it through crisis. He stood back by the mantle piece as his friends and family closed and pulled them to him one by one. He saw just a moment of hesitation in Corey's eyes, when Adam came up to shake his hand. Suddenly Corey pulled the smaller man into an embrace, and only he and Bill heard what was said. "Thanks man. But if you ever touch him again, I'll make you wish I'd killed you."  
  
*  
  
  
  
ANGEL GROVE, CALIFORNIA Two days later  
  
Bill set the receiver down in its cradle and turned back to Jason. "That was Corey. Stefan is doing fine. They're going to release him tomorrow, and the two are going on a long vacation."  
  
"Oh, where?" Jason asked as his lover and soul mate came over and cuddled up next to him on the couch.  
  
"He said somewhere where nobody would think to look for them." Bill's voice became more serious, "They've got a lot healing to do."  
  
"I don't understand?" Jason asked. "Why do both Corey and Stefan, and Adam and Tanya need vacations?"  
  
Bill sighed and considered the appropriateness of telling Jason what he knew. "I'm not sure it's for me to say.," he told him.  
  
"Does it have something to with Tanya making me think that she was going to kill Stefan?"  
  
Bill turned and looked his lover in the eyes. "I hadn't heard about that."  
  
Jason smiled, "Tanya was very convincing when we were trying to get Stefan away from the last hijacker. The tone in her voice and her body language was serious. She told the guy, that if he killed Stefan, he'd be saving her the trouble. Of course, she didn't mean it, but she had me going. I tackled her thinking she was about to finish him off."  
  
Bill just snuggled closer, and leaned back, "Actually, it probably does. And, this stays between you and me. The only reason I know about it, is I accidentally over-heard Adam and Corey discussing it."  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't say anything to me then," Jason told him.  
  
"Okay," Bill smiled and snuggled in deeply.  
  
"Bill!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't tease!"  
  
"You tease all the time."  
  
"Just spit out. Now you're going to have me wondering about our friends every time we see them."  
  
Bill just sighed, "Okay. Remember the night of the party here, about a year ago. You know, when we got the grant."  
  
"Yeah," Jason told him.  
  
"You know how Adam and Stefan shared a ride home?"  
  
"Yeah," Jason replied afraid of where this might be going.  
  
"Well, it seems they shared more than a ride that night."  
  
"You're kidding?"  
  
Bill shook his head, "Nope. I don't know all the details and I don't want to know, but what happened that night went way beyond the boundaries. Both men told their spouses of course, and they're all trying to work it out."  
  
Bill sighed deeply against Jason's chest. "What is it, Bill?" Jason asked, "Something's been bothering you for two days now."  
  
Bill turned and looked at his lover, "Tell me something. Do you tend to see hour friends as being more moral than most people are? You know, expecting a higher level of behavior of them?"  
  
Jase thought about it for a minute, "I guess there was a time when I did." Shaking his head, he continued, "But not really any more. I think being on the force has made see a little darker side of human nature than we were used to when we had the Power."  
  
"Jase, we still have the Power." Bill told him.  
  
"Yeah, but I don't think we have the calling any more."  
  
"Maybe it's just changed."  
  
"You may be right."  
  
"I learned something this past week, Jase."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"I think Tanya put it best. There are some not-nice people in the world. And sometimes the nice people do not-nice things." "I think you're right Bill."  
  
They lay there together, snuggling in the warmth of each other's company for a long while. Finally, Bill broke the silence again.  
  
"Jase?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I've got a surprise for you," Bill told him.  
  
"What's that?" Jase answered absently.  
  
Bill turned and sat in his lover's lap. Reaching down, he pulled the hem of his shirt up and over his head to reveal his rather well defined form beneath. Nestled in the patch of light brown hair that covered his chest, a single silver hoop winked out from his left nipple. "This."  
  
END  
  
  
  
Final Note: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. It takes several liberties with the Power Rangers Universe, but that's the whole point of fan fic. 


End file.
